Importance of Being Kind
by The Author's Mighty Pen
Summary: A half British-half Belgian woman (Anna Smith) works as the doctor at a mining outpost in the post 1920s Congo. The newest supervisor, an ex-Army surveyor (John Bates) recently released from a contract with British Petroleum, comes and they butt heads over the care of the miners and the locals because of the mining process.
1. Welcome to the Jungle

He squinted in the harsh light and ran his already soaked handkerchief over his neck. The buzzing of the jungle could be heard even over the boat's engines and he wished it would settle. The sounds kept him up at night and if they did not then his dreams did. Occasionally his eyes darted longingly over toward the table where a bottle of half-drunk spirits rested near the cards.

Shaking himself he focused on dock coming into view. He bent and collected his bag, walking to the side where the blacks arranging the gangplank chattered in their broken French. The whole mechanism settled with a bang and he bit down on his jaw, trying to suppress the shudder that came with the memory.

"Thank you." He managed, with the little French he had, and walked down the semi-steady wood to reach the dock. The whole thing swayed and he flung out an arm caught quickly by a gentleman roughly his age but with grayer hair.

"Steady on old boy. I might think you've already hit the drink before I've even had time to send you packing."

"No chance of that. Cleaner than a nun's knicker drawer."

"Not sure what nun's knicker drawers you've seen but I won't press." They laughed and hugged one another, slapping strongly at their backs before the grayer man pulled away. "It's good to see you in one piece John. For a moment there I did worry about what British Petroleum had you up to down in Australia but I guess I worried for nothing."

"Not nothing." John resettled his bag on his back. "All your worries were legitimate Robert, that I promise you."

"Well, you're here now and we've got new worries to manage." Robert weaved them between all the offloaded supplies and people to a car. He climbed into the front seat and John deposited his bag in the back before taking the passenger side. They peeled away from the dock and immediately rocked onto a forested path rutted with rocks and divots.

After the fifth jarring bump John grabbed the side, shouting over the noise of the engine. "Was this the best your money could buy?"

"The best for these roads." Robert took a bend on what felt like two wheels before changing gears. "We've got to make things last here. It's the only way to make the investment worth the time."

"And does your wife think it's worth the time?"

"She happens to enjoy the life in town. The girls are the ones who only get placated with the money from it."

"Really?"

"Well, no. Edith left for England last year and married some lord or something. Sybil never liked money and happens to work as a nurse in our local hospital under our doctor. Mary wants to kick me out of the business to run it. Honestly," Robert took another speeding turn that had them spitting mud a moment before the wheel caught. "Cora said, 'we need to raise capable daughters' but conveniently forgot the part where we're also supposed to keep them under our control."

"Control's an illusion Robert."

"Too true."

They traveled for a half an hour at most before the fenced edges of an enclosure came into sight. Two men at the gates hopped to and opened the doors for them to enter. Robert slowed the car, waving to the men, and John pointed to the fencing.

"Animals?"

"And rival companies. When we first set up here they tried to burn our rubber plants."

"What else o you do here?" John craned his neck to see, "Ivory processing?"

"No," Robert shook his head, "Cora opposed an animal endangerment. All her humanitarian causes linked her with a humane society in America and she doesn't want anything ruining that. No it's all rubber and mining here."

"All blacks?"

"Most of it. They're the best workers and we've developed quite a relationship with some of the surrounding villages. Hard workers for lower pay than to ship questionable men from England or Belgium." Robert pulled the car to a stop and pointed up to the building standing up on stilts. "That'll be your office and bunk house. You share it with our foreman, Mr. Carson. At least when he's not in town with his wife."

"He go there often?"

"As often as he can." Robert got out of the car and exchanged a quick word with the black man who ran up to him. The man dashed away as Robert turned back to John, "To be honest we've got a lot here that needs a steady hand and a keen eye."

"My hand's not as steady as it was and my eye's not nearly as keen."

"But your mind's as sharp as ever and I need that." Robert pointed around him, "This is the future of the Empire in the Congo and we might lose it."

"Have you thought that maybe we should?"

Robert huffed, "That's not very patriotic."

"Not something I've ever been accused of seeing as I'm Irish."

"You're only Irish when you drink and celebrate St. Patrick's Day." Robert scoffed, coming around the car to steer John toward another building in the compound shaped around the bend in the river with a dock sending smaller boats up and down stream. "For now you're British and, as long as you're here, under my employ."

"Then rule Britannia." John chuckled, "What's this place?"

"Our field hospital." It sat right next to the water and Robert led John up the steps. "All our imports have to be medically cleared before we risk you to a jungle waiting for the slightest reason to kill you."

"That worried about my safety?" John tapped his chest, "I survived the Outback and it's inhabited with the progeny of killers and rapists."

"Here everything's a killer." Robert tapped on the door and opened it. "Doctor's out but I sent a man so just wait and you'll be seen to."

"What if I don't pass muster?" John dropped his bag on a cot and took a seat. "Do I just take the long road back to that boat and sail back out of Boma?"

"We're not giving up on you yet." Robert winked, "See you at dinner. It'll be at the house in the center of the compound."

"Wouldn't miss it." John waited for Robert to leave and rested back on the cot a moment before standing up to survey the room. A small balcony gave him a view of the river passing below and he sighed to himself. "What've you got yourself into now Bates?"

* * *

The steady chatter of voices in the distance barely bothered her as she threaded the needle. With her hands delicately holding the wound closed she poked a moment at the skin. The woman did not flinch so the needle went through the skin and sowed the incision closed.

Shouts filled her ears and she narrowed her eyes, scrunching her nose to focus carefully on the task at hand. Thumping feet outside the hut tried to distract her as a voice, tinged with the rush of arrival and panting, tried to speak. Her focus never wavered and she adjusted the needle to manage a turn in the cut.

"Ma'am!"

"I'm busy."

"Ma'am they need you at the compound."

"If it's not a princess or a proposal then it's not more important than what I'm doing now." She pulled the thread tight and tied off the end before cutting the thread close. Turning to the woman holding the newborn suckling at her chest the first woman smiled, "No hard work for at least a day for that to heal. I mean it."

"Yes Missus Anna." The woman pushed black, fuzzy hair from the head of her baby. "I listen."

"Good." Anna removed the gloves before running a finger over the small hands of the baby. "He's beautiful."

"He looks like his father." The woman giggled, "Big nose and eyes too close together. He will be an ugly baby like his father."

"If he weren't ugly then how would you keep him?" Anna teased, gathering her things. "And I mean it. At least a day."

"I hear you."

"I'll be back tomorrow to check on you." Anna ducked out of the hut and handed her bag to the Indian man waiting there. "Anyone else?"

"All done." He nodded around the village, pointing to the anxious man hopping in front of them. "He's still insistent."

"I see." Anna turned to the man, "What do they need at the compound that's so urgent?"

"Immediate exam."

"Someone else get typhus?" The man shook his head and Anna groaned, "If I'm being called away from necessary house calls because some wanker got himself a bad case of syphilis again I swear-"

"The new manager came today ma'am and they need him to start."

"I hate those." Anna turned to the Indian man, "Could we have him believe you're the doctor?"

"I think Mr. Crawley wouldn't take too kindly to that deception."

"As always, Anu, you're right." Anna gestured toward her car, "I guess we better get going then."

She climbed into the driver's seat, Anu taking the passenger seat, and they both waited for the messenger to climb into the rear. They reached the north end of the compound and entered without incident. The men waved at them as Anna had Anu precede her up to the field hospital and she checked her car before following him up the stairs.

When she entered she saw the man looking out over the river and her breath caught a moment at the sight of his broad shoulders and back. The sweat from the humidity soaked his shirt and Anna had to busy her hands in pulling loose strands of her hair out of the way while Anu crossed the room to tap the man on the shoulder. He turned and Anu bowed to him.

"Pleasure to have you sir. We're ready for you examination."

"I didn't know Robert hired a Sikh doctor."

"Oh no sir," Anu laughed, "I'm not the doctor."

"Then I'd prefer to wait for when he arrives."

" _He_ got dysentery three years ago and retired to Auckland," Anna dug in her desk for a pair of gloves as the man turned to her. "I'm the doctor here."

"You?"

"Surprised?"

The man snorted, "That's one word for it."

"I hope not the nicest one you have." Anna tapped the side of an examination table, "Drop trou and up here please."

"I'd rather have your Sikh do it."

"He's not qualified yet." Anna shrugged at Anu, "Sorry."

"It's fine."

"It's not for me." The man shuffled, "I'm not comfortable having a woman-"

"See you naked?" Anna scoffed, "Excuse the impertinence but I'm sure this isn't the first time a lady's seen you naked."

"Not medically."

"Can't handle the sterility or are you afraid of the reaction?" The man stared at the floor. "Ah… I see."

"It's nothing personal."

"I should hope not since I barely know you Mr.?"

"Bates. John Bates."

"Mr. Bates." Anna extended a hand, "I'm Anna Smith, resident doctor here, and I promise that this investigation is required by the company for insurance purposes."

"Insurance?" Mr. Bates narrowed his eyes. "What kind of insurance?"

"The monetary, at the moment." Anna stepped forward and pulled one of his arms out from his body, feeling the muscles. "But if you want we can get you other kinds of insurance."

"What kinds?"

"Prayers, blessings, smoke signals." Anna dropped to her knees, unbuckling his belt and pulling it back to check his legs. "Everything here is held together with spit and prayers, to as many gods as we can manage. I'm sure they'd be willing to spare a few in your direction. Wouldn't you Anu?"

"I can fit him in."

"See?" Anna distracted Mr. Bates long enough to strip his underwear down and feel around him with her gloves. "We're got enough prayers for you."

Mr. Bates barely responded. Anna risked a look up and held back her laugh at the sight of his gritted teeth. She finished her investigation and stepped back. Pulling off her gloves she smiled, "See, all done."

"That was it?" Mr. Bates froze a moment then hurried to pull his underwear up. "That was short."

"It's mostly a test to see if you brought any VDs with you." Anna dropped the used gloves on her desk before leaning against it and folding her arms. "Given that ninety percent of our imports are home within three months howling about burning sensations or signing up for arsenic treatments we need to know if they brought it with them and then tried to scam the company."

"The insurance?"

"The insurance." Anna waited for Mr. Bates to finish arranging his clothes. "You're surprisingly healthy ad clean."

"I haven't found a reason to be less so." He winked at her, "Unless you're making a less professional observation."

"Not yet."

"Yet?"

"I've only just met you and I don't know if I want to buy tickets to your crazy train." Anna pointed to the door. "We're done. I'll have Anu run a copy of the finished report to you before dinner."

"Not before?"

"I've got other things to do." Anna repacked her bag. "This little investigation took time out of my home visits to one of our villages."

"You go out there alone?"

Anna looked up, giving Mr. Bates a tight smile. "I'm sure you think very highly of yourself, Mr. Bates, and I'm glad I've finally felt full of confidence by the bill of health I'll have Anu write up for you, but know this. You've no idea what's waiting for you out there and I do."

"Do you?"

"I've lived in Africa my entire life Mr. Bates. It's more dangerous than you can imagine but I've managed."

"You've practiced medicine here this whole time too?"

Anna paused, flicking the latch on her bag. "Among other things."

"Other things?" Mr. Bates scrunched up his face, "What other things?"

"For me to know, Mr. Bates." Anna grabbed her bag and shook his hand quickly. "It was lovely meeting you and I hope you don't die before I see you again."

Anna took the stairs down to her car and put her bag in the side seat, backing up. She risked a look up and noted how Mr. Bates leaned over the railing to stare at her. Smiling to herself Anna peeled out of the compound and drove away.


	2. I Come from a Land Down Under

John dabbed at his forehead with another handkerchief as he waited at the door. It flung open and Robert dragged John over the threshold. Barely keeping his footing, John managed to make it into the entryway unscathed.

Robert slapped his shoulder, "Glad to see you didn't turn tail on your first day. That says good things."

"You hope." John held up his handkerchief, "I'll need to invest in more of these. I've already soaked the three I have."

"I've stopped bothering. Everyone's dripping in sweat here and you get used to it. Comes with the territory."

Robert guided him into an open-air sitting room with all the shutters and doors thrown wide to let in the evening air. Fans thumped in a monotonous beat that, in the swelter of an afternoon, could put someone to sleep faster than the tsetse fly. Gathered in the seats there, wearing the lightest clothes possible, were four women and two other men.

"Let me run you through the introductions." Robert led John to the oldest woman in the room. "If you remember my wife, Cora, she's the eternal beauty right here. Cora, this handsome devil is my old friend, John Bates."

"Robert's always going on with his hyperbole." Cora stood, shaking John's hand. "You've no idea how I feel finally meeting the man behind the legend."

"Not sure what legends he's told you but I promise they're probably all lies." John laughed and Cora smiled at him.

"I think we'll get along just fine John." Cora waved over John's shoulder. "And this is our eldest, Mary, and her husband, Matthew."

"You're the new foreman?" Mary was perhaps the most slender woman John had ever met with an iciness to her eyes that only drew out her high cheekbones. She held out a hand, "I do hope you're better prepared than the last one we had."

"I don't know if anyone is really prepared but I'm willing to learn and that never failed me in the past."

"That's the spirit to it." John shook with the blonde man by her side. "Robert mentioned you'd worked for British Petroleum in Australia."

"I did. Worked in Queensland, near Julia Creek."

Mary frowned, "I thought that oil shale formation was controlled by Vidler and Co., not British Petroleum."

"It is. I was contracted through my work with British Petroleum as their consultant on the project." John shuffled, "It wasn't a bad job but not where I want to spend the rest of my life."

"You'd rather run a mining operation in one of the hottest jungles known to man?" Mary snorted, "I do have to wonder about your sanity Mr. Bates."

"I'm all intact upstairs Mrs. Crawley." John shuffled, "Might I ask what interest you take, specifically, in the business?"

"I'm in charge of the mining operation in general, Matthew works directly as the liaison between my office and you, and Mr. Branson," John turned to follow Mary's finger to where a dark haired man debated in an Irish lilt between Robert and a woman with the kindest face John had ever seen. "Manages the minutia of our rubber plantation."

"Robert mentioned you work rubber here but I was curious." John cleared his throat, "Isn't there more rubber produced in French Indo-China or the Dutch Indies than in the Congo these days?"

"Enough to make our dependence on the mine the significant part of our revenue stream but Tom's actually already making some overtures to a few owners in Indo-China who want to sell." Matthew flexed his jaw, "We could be moving that branch of the operation by this time next year."

"To another jungle where everyone speaks French." Mary sighed, "The nature of the beast I suppose when you want to make a living abroad."

"It is." John noted the doctor, Anna, speaking to Cora about something. He gestured toward her and turned to Mary, "How long has Doctor Smith worked here?"

"Longer than any of us." Matthew appeared to be counting in his head. "She grew up here."

"Really?"

"Her parents worked here before my father bought the mine and the plantation when the owner's defaulted." Mary commented and John turned to her.

"Her parents raised her here?"

"Until her mother died."

"And she stayed here?"

Mary nodded, "Anna was practically raised in my house after that. Makes her practically my sister and far more of a sister to me than my real one on occasion."

"Mary that was unkind." The woman standing near Branson joined them and extended her hand to John, "Sybil Branson, pleasure to meet you."

"John Bates." John motioned to the house, "This is quite a lovely home."

"It is lovely." Sybil smiled at the décor, "If Tom and I have to move to Indo-China I don't know how I'll ever leave. So many good memories here, growing up with my sisters."

"Don't worry about that now." Mary snagged a drink from a tray and held one out to John. "Drink?"

"No thank you."

"Not used to the libations here?" The Irish voice drew John to notice Branson joined them. "Tom Branson."

"A fellow Irishman and I'm not a fan of libations in general. I've seen too many people destroy themselves with it."

"Haven't we all?" Branson took the drink Mary offered. "How different is it here from Australia?"

"Wetter and more humid and definitely greener than where they had me. Reminds me a little of the Emerald Isle in its way but the sky, what you can see of it here, is a lot clearer."

"I hear you there. None of the perpetual gray of home." Branson shifted, "Anna, glad you joined us for dinner."

"The operation went smoother than expected." Anna smiled her thanks at Mary for the glass, "Anu's finishing with the post operation checks and then he'll be in for the night. I'll be on call after that, should anything happen."

"The work never stops for you does it Doctor?" John asked and Anna finally turned to him.

"Never. There's always a need for a doctor here."

"I'd imagine. I guess I just didn't expect the doctor I found here"

"Have you ever had a female doctor before Mr. Bates?" Sybil's comment led the whole group to paused and John swallowed.

"I haven't, no."

"Then this morning's exam must've been quite the experience." Mary chuckled and John reddened slightly.

"It was unexpected but Doctor Smith handled herself with the utmost professionalism. For which I am exceedingly grateful."

"She always does because she's the best doctor, bar none, on this continent or any other. From personal experience, after she helped heal my back, I know she's incredible. " Matthew raised his glass, "To our intrepid doctor."

"Here, here." Everyone responded and John ducked his head.

"Mr. Crawley's being overly flattering." Anna cut in, "I'm the only doctor, bar none, on this or any continent, who's managed to stay as long as I have since Doctor Clarkson was recalled during the war and the one after him almost died of dysentery."

"I always hoped Doctor Clarkson would come back to simplify the workload for Anna here but I guess retirement suits him far better than scumming it out here in the jungle with us." Robert cut in, clapping his hands together. "Dinner, everyone."

One of the shutters banged against the wall in a gust of wind and John startled. No one else noticed, too occupied in another conversation, except Anna. He met her eyes briefly as she narrowed them. John shook it off, clenching his fist to keep it from shaking.

"Are you alright Mr. Bates?"

"Perfectly fine."

"You don't look fine."

"Just startled me, that's all." John held his hand open toward the dining room, "After you Doctor."

They entered the dining room and John took the seat held out for him by one of the house servants. Nodding to the man John sat and immediately reached for his napkin. Smells not associated with the jungle wafted toward them as the doors for the kitchen were thrown wide and a short, red-haired woman bustled out.

"I've got something special for tonight so I hope everyone's hungry."

"Mrs. Patmore spoils us here." Robert leaned over the table to get John's attention. "She somehow finds a way to cook like we're still in England."

"Not always sure that's a good thing." John joked but immediately cowed under the glare from Mrs. Patmore. "But I'm sure she'll make tonight delicious."

"That I will sir." Mrs. Patmore urged the others out of the kitchen with their plates. "They'll not wait for you to be ready."

The servers hustled out with the food and moved swiftly to deliver the plates to all those seated at the table. John leaned himself back to allow the server through the small space and breathed in the scent of the food. He whistled softly, "This does look better than I expected."

"It's been too long since you've been home." Robert laughed and pointed at his plate, "You forgot what good English cooking is."

"Is there such a thing?" Mary griped and everyone in the room laughed a bit.

John eased into a smile that quickly clenched to a grimace when one of the servers fumbled the utensils momentarily. The clatter set his teeth on edge and his fingers wrapped in the napkin at his lap, crushing it in his grip. Roaring filled his ears and John blinked away the images of dirt flying everywhere and men torn to shreds before him.

"Mr. Bates?" He started at the gentle voice next to him. Anna leaned over, whispering to him, "If you need a moment-"

"No," John cleared his throat, "I'm fine. Just lost my train of thought for a moment."

"Did you lose that train of thought somewhere in the land of forgotten pain, Mr. Bates?"

John eyed Anna, "What would give you that impression?"

"I've dealt quite a bit with those who have disabilities. I know what they look like when someone's trying to hide them."

"I'm not disabled, Doctor."

"We don't all have disabilities you can see." Anna started cutting into her food. "Sometimes they're beneath the surface."

"Speaking from the experience of someone who has a disability?"

"Of course."

"And what kind of disability could you have?" John snorted a bit then noticed the seriousness in Anna's face.

"I'm heartless, Mr. Bates."

"I find that hard to believe."

"Really?" Anna adjusted in her seat, "And why would that be hard to believe?"

"Heartless people don't come to Africa to work as doctors."

"I didn't come to Africa, Mr. Bates. I was born here." Anna pointed out one of the windows toward John's stilt-supported house. "In that building actually."

"Mary mentioned that. Said your parents worked here."

Anna sucked the inside of her cheek, "They did. But that doesn't make me any less African."

"I didn't say you weren't African. I just intimated you had a caring demeanor to come back after you left."

"I didn't leave."

"But you'd have to leave, to get your medical training."

"Just because you leave a place doesn't mean you ever left." Anna dabbed at her mouth with her napkin, "Many soldiers from the Great War would say the same about the shell shock. They never really left the battlefield. Must be why so many of them go back to where they served to see if its still the battlefield they remember before realizing it's all in their heads."

"I disagree." John took a swig of water, "Just because you returned to a place doesn't mean you never left it either. Some need it to remind themselves that it gets better."

"Did it for you, Mr. Bates?"

"Are you a doctor or an alienist?"

Anna shrugged, "Out here I'm whatever they need me to be so a little of it all I guess."

"Are you a cook too?"

"When the need arises."

John spread his hands at the food before them, "Could you do this?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because I can't." Anna wiped her hands in the napkin. "Honestly, because I can't cook on this level because I never do but I could ask the same question of you."

"Could you?"

"You're here as a mining foreman when, in Australia, you were working as a consultant for Vidler and Co. as a loan from British Petroleum. What, in the oil shale business, qualifies you for the mining industry in the Belgian Congo?"

"Not sure anything does since they don't give out degrees in the experience I have to do what I do like they gave you yours."

Anna stiffened her shoulders, "I take umbrage that you'd suggest anyone gave me my education."

"Didn't they? Experience and skill aside, there was money that changed hands to give you the experience you have."

"Just as it did for you to gain yours." Anna went back to her food, "Just because you paid in blood and sweat doesn't mean currency of some kind didn't change hands."

"Is that what you think war is, Doctor? Currency changing hands?"

Anna set down her fork and turned to him. "I'm sure that you, like so many young men who lost their lives or their minds on the battlefield, believed you were fighting to protect your rights, our rights, and in a way you were. But the deeper issue, the driving decision to send millions to be slaughtered in distant lands, was entirely due to the selfishness of those who believed they'd not been paid, Mr. Bates. War is an ugly business that leaves fathers to bury their sons and soaks the ground with blood so nothing grows but despair and misery for generations to come."

John went to respond but noticed the rest of the table had quieted. "I'm sorry you feel that way Doctor."

"Don't be sorry," Mary flicked her hand at Anna, "She's a bit personal about it because they required her to work battle-side to finish her qualifications."

"Where?"

"The Somme." Anna went back to her plate, keeping her focus there, "It's why I think war, in general, is a game played by powers that don't understand what they're asking people to do."

"She's not wrong," Branson cut in, "I'm against the idea of war when it's only for greed and gain."

"How do we decide when it's all greed and gain?" John voiced and Branson went to respond but Robert chimed in.

"Most would argue that one needs to fight for the good of the country. You sacrifice so the good of all is obtained."

"But who really benefits in that case?" Branson pointed around the table, "Of all those who came home broken men in body and spirit, if they came home at all, would they argue for the good of what they gave?"

"I would." Matthew spoke up, quieting the table. "I believe we gain more when we put ourselves to the hazard."

"War's not about testing our mettle or serving the questionable good of a country." Anna raised her head, "Who decides what that good is anyway?"

"So you'd rather the Kaiser and his minions had overran Europe and robbed the free world with them?" Robert's hackles rose and soon the table was awash with noise of those arguing their opinions.

John's leg twitched and he grabbed for his knee. His fingers dug into the cotton of his trousers as the sounds of the table evolved to his ears. Screams and cries torn by machine gun fire and bullets echoed in his ears. The moment of silence before a bullet ripped through the flesh of the man next to him rang in his ears. Howls of death and rage drove his heart to beat faster and John surged forward.

His legs hit the table and his chair crashed against the floor. Everyone in the room quieted while John held the edge of the table in a vice-like grip. He gathered his breath and stepped back, hands shaking. He balled them into fists and swallowed.

"Sorry, I thought something bit me."

"I hope it's not another snake." Cora stood, "We'll have a look around."

John nodded and hurried out of the dining room toward the darkened balcony while everyone else started searching the room. He grabbed the railing and tried to even his breathing while his hands molded over the wood to turn his knuckles white. The sounds of the jungle drove him mad and calmed him simultaneously, the noise drowning out the memory of the battlefield.

When all he could discern was the rise and fall of his chest John turned back toward the dining room. Leaning on the doorjamb, Anna nodded toward him. "When I was in England the jungle sounds were what I missed most."

"It's maddening."

"It's soothing." She walked toward him, "I hated the sounds of motors and factories, all that belching smoke drowning out the sky. I almost tore my hair out."

"You never did say how you managed to gain your degree given that women aren't usually permitted to be doctors."

"The simple version is that I convinced Middlesex College that if they could take one black man per class they could manage one woman." Anna shrugged, "I topped my class that year so I guess I impressed them."

"I guess." John sighed, waiting for his heart to stop hammering in his chest.

"I want to apologize, for riling you up in there." Anna jerked her head back toward the dining room. "I'm afraid you caught me on a subject that raises my hackles more than others do."

"And mine, being a military man myself."

"I also feel the need to apologize for my assumption, this morning, that you wouldn't understand the dangers here."

John snorted, "You're right about that. I don't understand the dangers here at all. This environment is completely foreign to me."

"Not entirely though." Anna shrugged, "Which, to me, means not at all."

"That's a rather pessimistic take on being wrong."

"I'm a doctor. That makes me a realist at best and a fatalist at worst." She leaned on the railing to look toward the jungle. "Did you know there was a doctor, in the American Civil War, who once killed three men after an operation, giving him a three-hundred percent fatality rate?"

"Are you warning me about something?"

"No," Anna pushed herself straight to face him, "I'm telling you that the work I do, everyday, is tempting fate and death. The locals I work with sometimes ask me why I interfere in the hand of God and the only answer I can give them is that the God I worship wants us to do all we can to survive."

"Even kill others?"

"That I couldn't say." Anna sighed, "But I have a feeling you need some help surviving something a little harder to handle."

"How'd you mean?"

"Those broken spirits. I think you're carrying around a bit of a burden from your time on the battlefield because I don't think you left it all behind." Anna reached out a hand and rested it just on John's arm. "I have something that might help you sleep better at night, handle the nightmares I think you have."

"What about the demons I have to deal with when I'm awake? Does it cure those too?" John whispered and Anna drew her hand back.

"It might help."

"You're sure about the efficacy of this treatment?"

"It's an ancient remedy, Mr. Bates, older than the Empire that tries to eradicate the culture that spawned it, and I've seen it work many times." Anna paused, "Unless you're too afraid to try it."

"I'll try anything at this point." John walked back toward the dining room and Anna called out to him.

"I noticed you refused alcohol. Did you try that once too?"

John stopped, turning to her, "I did. I didn't like who I was when I tried to use that to battle my demons."

"I applaud you for it."

"Don't applaud me." John hung his head, "Never applaud me. I've done nothing worth your admiration or your applause."

"Surviving is worth my admiration, Mr. Bates."

"Not my survival." John tipped his head toward her, "If you have that remedy I'm interested in it but perhaps tomorrow. I think I should just go and try to battle this myself tonight."

"Mr. Bates, you don't need to fight this alone."

"But I do, Doctor. You must fight alone what you brought upon yourself. Good evening, Doctor."

John walked out of the house and toward his own.


	3. Shatter Me

Anna read over the report and signed it before handing it back to Anu, "Somehow I think you're over qualified for this Anu."

"You flatter me."

"I try." Anna raised her head when John walked through the doors. "Ah, Mr. Bates. I have that remedy for you."

She pushed up from her desk and opened a small case on her desk, digging through a few clinking bottles before handing over the small vial. John ducked his head to accept it before holding the vial up to the light. He frowned, leading Anna to chuckle.

"I can assure you it's not poison." She crossed her arms over her chest as John spent a moment looking sheepish before she waved him down. "Don't take it with alcohol or else some horrible consequences could occur."

"Consequences?"

"There was a worker who took it and then imbibed." Anu cut in, sorting papers in his arms. "He threw himself into the river to escape the nightmares."

"Nightmares?" John held the vial in two fingers, slightly away from his body, "What kind of nightmares?"

"According to his ravings when we fished him from the rapids, quite demonic." Anna cringed, "He was rather insistent."

"Are you sure this is safe then?" John looked between Anna and Anu, his eyes wide. "Perhaps I'd best try my luck with the nightmares I already have since I don't need new ones."

"It's not as bad as all that." Anna cut in but Anu snorted.

John pointed at Anu, "Your assistant doesn't agree."

"I admit, it's a bit of 'fight fire with fire', all things considered, but perfectly harmless if you follow all the instructions."

"What is it, then?"

Anna shrugged, "An old Congolese remedy that counteracts your own nightmares with another kind."

"Another kind?" John went to hand the vial back. "I don't think I can afford to be tossing myself into the river should mine prove too terrifying for description."

"You'll be fine."

"And if I'm not?" John continued to hold the vial toward her. "What then?"

"If you want," Anna pushed the vial toward him, "You can come here tonight, take it, and either myself or Anu will watch over you. If you don't like it then give the vial back and I'll give you something to send you into deep sleep."

John seemed to consider it a moment before shaking his head. "That's very generous of you but I couldn't put either of you out of place."

"We're always on call." Anu motioned to the room, "Between the two of us, our three nurses, and one locum nurse there's always someone standing by."

"But you've got other concerns."

"Nothing, as far as our position in this compound and at the service of Mr. Crawley's operation, is more important to us than your health." Anna pointed to a bed near the door. "That one'll be for you this evening. Come at eleven. I'll be on duty and you can take the draught while I'm present."

John finally nodded. "I'll be here at eleven then."

"Perfect." Anna walked him to the door. "I promise this will help with the nightmares and all the associated ugliness of what you carry with you."

"All of it?" John snorted, "It must be a strong medicine to do that."

"It's strong enough." Anna waved toward the door. "I believe I've kept you from your duties long enough this morning."

"Until tonight then." John put his hat on his head and ducked out the door, taking the stairs to meet his car.

Anna watched him from her perch before turning back to see Anu, arms folded over his chest, raising his eyebrow at her. "What?"

"You're interfering where you shouldn't."

"He needs help." Anna walked to her desk, picking up a stack of files to sort them away in the cabinets near her desk. "This will help him."

"You want to think this will help him but it could drive him mad. People bury those kinds of things to prevent breaking their spirit and their mind."

Anna stood, leaning on the cabinet, and closed her eyes. She did not look at Anu when she spoke. "He hasn't buried any of it. It's hiding in the shallows of his mind."

"Then maybe he needs to face them when he's ready to take to the water."

"And if he's not?" Anna turned, throwing her hand toward the door. "We let a man who jumps at clattering dishes and almost overturns tables in his terror to command the workers whose children we deliver and whose injuries we'll heal?"

"This is not about those workers so don't pretend you're being altruistic in your motives Anna." Anu pointed a finger at her, "You're involving yourself in something you'd best leave be. Remember what happened when your mother did it?"

Anna clenched her jaw, "That was different."

"No, it wasn't." Anu shook his head, "This is exactly what got her in trouble. Doing this will start a chain of connections and questions you don't want Anna."

"He needs this."

"Him or you?" Anu grabbed for his bag, "I'd beg you consider what you're doing here."

"I wouldn't have offered it unless I knew what I was doing."

Anu sighed, "Your mother thought the same way."

Anna folded her arms over her chest, "Is that why you didn't save her? To say 'I told you so'?"

"That's not fair." Anu leveled a finger at her. "You know the restrictions of what I can do."

"I know what you say you can do." Anna grabbed her bag as well, "It doesn't mean I believe it."

She walked to the door but Anu stood in her way. "You're playing a dangerous game Anna and I don't want to see you get injured."

"Do you want to get injured?"

"No, why?"

"Because if you don't get out of my way you're about to be." When he did not move Anna steeled her tone. "I'm serious. Move."

"I'm just trying to help you Anna."

"I don't need your help." She pushed past him. "Take the mine before you leave today. I don't think we need to speak until this evening."

"Anna-"

She walked down the stairs and put her bag in the passenger seat of her vehicle before climbing in herself. Starting up the engine, she pulled the car around, speeding out of the compound almost too fast for them to fully open the gates. With a few deft turns she reached the main road and took the bumpy road toward the town.

Parking outside one of the buildings she pulled her bag free before slamming the door on her car. The wooden boards creaked under her weight as she entered the shop and smiled at the woman behind the counter. While the woman finished with her customer, Anna perused the selections. Her fingers trailed over the dried products, pulling an occasional one to her nose, and eyeing a few of the smaller containers.

When the door shut she turned in time to meet the embrace of the woman. "Anna! It's been too long. I thought you'd only send Anu to us from now on."

"No Mrs. Hughes," Anna reached into her bag, pulling out a case and popping it open. "We actually had a bit of a row this morning and I needed to get away."

"Rowing with Anu?" Mrs. Hughes raised her eyebrow, "Whatever for?"

"A decision I made he disagrees with." Anna brought her bag to the counter, opening it fully. "But he's entitled to his opinion as long as he doesn't require I share it."

"Is that what he did?"

"Without going into it, yes." Anna started her circle of the shop. "I need all the usual ingredients and a few others."

"I noticed you're out of the dream draught." Mrs. Hughes clicked her teeth, leading Anna to turn and face her. "Are you sure it's wise to use?"

"For this man I think it's the only way to help him." Anna pulled a few springs from a box, sniffing them before placing them on the counter. "It'll give him the power to conquer his demons."

"The only problem is if his demons aren't as obvious as you believe they are." Mrs. Hughes filled the small case and started to fill the bag as well. "Sometimes we think we know the cause but all we've treated are the symptoms of a deeper problem."

"Then I should just leave it be?"

"I didn't say that." Mrs. Hughes gave an exasperated sigh, "Sometimes I wonder if you actually listen when I speak."

"I do."

"Then listen when I say that the problem can sometimes be found when we treat the symptoms. Just don't rush in assuming you know exactly what's wrong when you don't yet."

"I'm not my mother, Mrs. Hughes."

"I didn't say you were." Mrs. Hughes paused, "Did Anu accuse you of that?"

Anna nodded, "He thought that I was getting too involved. But that's impossible since I only just met him."

"Not every relationship takes as long to flower and bloom as mine and Mr. Carson's." Mrs. Hughes smiled, tallying up the contents of the bag and writing it on a receipt. "Sometimes we love in a moment."

"It's not that." Anna took the receipt and paid before taking her bag back. "Thank you Mrs. Hughes."

"My pleasure my dear." As Anna reached the door she called out to her, "Don't forget, you're invited to dinner on Sunday."

"I won't forget."

"I don't care who's having a baby or what miner skinned his scrotum. You'll be there on Sunday, make no mistake."

"I'd be a fool to argue with a determined Scot." Anna smiled, pushing out of the office.

She returned to her car, starting it up and driving to one of the far villages. Her work there, and at two more, stole most of the day and night fell fast enough that she approached the compound with her headlights on. The men at the gate called out to her and she waved at them before parking below her hospital.

The stairs thumped under the thud of her boots on her ascent and distracted her from the sound of someone standing at the top. When she looked up she stopped herself crying out when he saw a shadow there. John stepped into the light, wincing at his effect.

"I apologize. I didn't mean to frighten you."

"I'd congratulate you, since that's not easy to do to me, but I'm still trying to find my breath." Anna pointed toward the door, "Might we have this conversation inside?"

"My apologies." John stepped back and Anna opened the door to lead him into the low-lit room.

"How was your first real day of work then Mr. Bates?" Anna turned up the lamp on her desk, resting her bag there. "I do hope the men aren't complete tossers to you."

"They were a little less than pleased that I actually expect work out of them." John removed his boots and socks before getting onto the cot. "But they seem alright."

"Good." Anna raised an eyebrow, pointing at him. "Are you comfortable still wearing your clothes?"

"I-" John flailed a second, "I usually sleep with less on but…"

"But because you've a woman watching you feel odd?" John nodded and Anna turned around, "Get comfortable, Mr. Bates, and tell me when I need to turn around."

She waited for John to call out to her and then approached the cot, dragging a chair to the edge. "Now just remember to relax. It'll all be alright."

"I have to apologize for not having the confidence you do."

"It comes with the territory." Anna held out her hand, "Do you have the vial I gave you earlier?"

John reached over the side of the bed, digging in his trouser pocket, and extracting it. "Do I just swallow or do I need to take it with water?"

"I'd drink it with water. It has a particular bitterness to it."

"Like poison?"

Anna snorted, "Like vegetables." She stood, extracting a canteen from her chair, and tossed it to him. "It'll taste like grass."

John swigged the canteen, downed the contents of the vial, and then chugged more water when he shuddered. "That's horrible."

"It's medicinal. I don't think that kind of thins should ever taste too good." Anna retook her seat, accepting the canteen he handed back. "That's what my mother always said anyway."

"Mary mentioned that your mother and father worked here when you were born."

Anna flexed her jaw, "That's right."

"How'd they meet, if you don't mind my asking?" John waited, then held up a hand, adjusting on the cot, "I'm sorry, it's none of my business. I shouldn't-"

"No," Anna stopped him, "It's alright. I'm just so used to everyone knowing that it's different to have someone asking."

"Everyone knows?"

"Well the Crawleys know and they're the only people I really talk to about more than their stomach pains or their VDs." Anna leaned back in the chair, careful of the edge of the cot. "My mother was one of the nurses and my father had your job."

"Then they met in the course of their jobs?"

"Yes. My father developed an unshakable fever and my mother stayed up for two days to bring him through it."

John sighed, "Sounds like true love."

"Far from." Anna shook her head, "My father saw my mother as his angel and pursued her. She thought that meant he was genuine in his affections and succumbed to the resulting seduction."

"And they married?"

"That tends to be difficult to accomplish when one of the parties is already married." Anna nodded at the look on John's face. "My mother came here as part of a Belgian nursing brigade and when the others were recalled she stayed. She fell in love with the Congo and stayed on as the nurse for the region. My father left his wife in Yorkshire to make his fortune in the Congo."

"Then he seduced your mother with false intentions?"

"My mother believed his lies that he didn't love his wife and fell into his arms and his bed for enough time to make me."

"Then you were born here?"

"I was born in his building because this hospital didn't exist yet." Anna looked around it, "This is my child, not my mother's."

"What happened?"

"My father stayed here for five years."

"Hence your accent?"

Anna shrugged, "It didn't help that the Crawleys also insisted on their Yorkshire hires but yes, he gave me my accent. My mother gave me her Belgian French and all the others have given me their languages."

"Right polyglot then?"

"I endeavor to be."

"Then what happened? After five years?"

"My father suffered a work injury and though they stabilized it here they couldn't treat it adequately. He returned to England and the company decided they wanted him to manage the local offices instead of sending him back to the jungle." Anna sighed, "My mother would take all her spare moments to write him, to stare out the window, and pray that he'd return to her but in two years he never said a word."

"Never?"

Anna shook her head, "He didn't want to take the bother. And it was to his advantage since she only knew the address to his office. I suspect he just burned the letters when he received them."

"Then you haven't met him since?"

"I did. Once." Anna smirked a little. "My mother passed shortly before my ninth birthday, which coincidently coincided with my father's recovery from a horrible illness. Mr. Crawley went all the way to England because he believed his friend would die."

"But he survived?"

"Yes. Survived long enough for his wife to walk in at the most inopportune moment." Anna tried to curb the bitterness in her voice. "Mr. Crawley insisted my father provide me the living I deserved as his child and my father's wife overheard. She interrogated my father about it and he admitted to having a bastard child in the Congo."

"What'd they do?"

"She told Mr. Crawley that I wasn't to have anything to do with the family and if I came looking for them they'd have the police on me."

John whistled, "That's rather harsh. It's not your fault for being born."

"Many a woman who discovers the illegitimate results of their husband's night time escapades would think differently Mr. Bates." Anna blew out a breath, "In the end Mr. Crawley threatened to expose it and, to calm the white knight who fought in my defense, my father agreed to a small allowance."

"For what?"

Anna shrugged, "Life, I guess. His allocation was enough for my school uniforms and basic living expenses here."

"But that was all he gave you?" John clicked his tongue against his teeth, "It makes me ashamed to be a man."

"When I finished secondary school he came to an agreement with me that he'd finance my choice of university, in England, with the caveat that when I matriculated I could never contact him."

"And you agreed to that?"

"Mr. Bates," Anna crossed her arms over her chest, "You forget that I hadn't seen my father since I was five. What did I care about the opinions of a man living thousands of miles away from me?"

"You agreed then?"

"In a heartbeat. Between his recommendation, as my patron, and the recommendation of Mr. Crawley I attended Middlesex College for my medical degree."

John smiled, "I've heard the end of this story. Yesterday night's dinner isn't soon to leave my memory."

"But you've got more you want to ask?" Anna opened her hand toward him. "Though you should be trying to sleep. The draught only works when you're actually asleep to use it."

"This is relaxing me." John assured her. "But I'd like to ask why you wanted to become a doctor."

"As opposed to what?"

"I don't know, something that wouldn't have subjected you to the relentless abuse of all those men convinced you were dabbling where you don't belong."

Anna twitched her head sideways, "I'm surprised you didn't say you agreed with them."

"Why would I?"

"Most men do."

"I'm not most men."

Anna grinned, "I can tell."

"But my question still stands. Why become a doctor? Why endure all of that ridicule?"

"We endure what we have to in order to fulfill our dreams Mr. Bates."

"But after you'd already suffered so much…"

"You mean my status as the rejected, bastard daughter of an uninterested man and a naïve, dead woman?"

"I didn't say that."

"No, everyone else did." Anna sighed, "It doesn't take long for people to find out the truth about what you are when their futures hang in the balance."

"It feels unfair."

"The world isn't fair Mr. Bates."

"It could be more so."

"How much more fair could it be when the only heritage my father deigned to leave me was an opportunity to use my experience in the Congo and gain an education at the expense of never ruining him publicly?"

"I still wouldn't ruined him."

"I didn't know him, Mr. Bates. I still don't. Whatever anger I'm supposed to feel about him is as much as a disgruntled citizen bears against their king. It's all hot air."

"But a doctor?" John adjusted on the cot, his longer pants rasping on the material. "Was that a snub?"

"No. My father offered me an education and I chose medicine."

"To follow the example of your mother?"

"Hardly."

"To spite your father then?" John pressed but Anna continued to shake her head in the negative.

"To heal and help, Mr. Bates."

"That's very altruistic of you."

"And you haven't done an altruistic thing in your life?"

John shrugged his bare shoulders, "I don't tend to be political or overly religious so anything I do is done from necessity."

"And you've never given an unsolicited kindness?"

"Not to the extent where I returned to the middle of Africa to rescue the dying and helpless."

"You're hardly dying and I wouldn't call you helpless." Anna patted the cot, "Now I've indulged your curiosity far too long for this to simply be your bedtime story."

"It was enlightening."

"It's supposed to be soothing." Anna snapped her fingers and pointed to the bed. "Close your eyes and breathe easy."

John closed his eyes but cracked one briefly, "And you'll be here in case I turn into a raving lunatic?"

Anna placed her hand over his eyes. "Sleep."

In a moment he was breathing deeply and Anna removed her hand. She stood, walking to her desk, and extracted a similar vial from the top drawer. When she sat on the chair next to his bed she pulled the cork loose from the bottle and drank the contents in a single go.

She shuddered, coughing at the bitterness before settling her left hand on his forehead and her other hand above his heart. Making sure she put no undue weight on either area she eyed john's sleeping form. "Let's see what demons haunt you."

Synchronizing their breathing she closed her eyes. The sounds of the jungle eased her mind as she chanted the words under her breath. When the incantation finished she let out a long breath and gave into the darkness.

* * *

 _Everything was noise and darkness. Dirt flying all over her to cover the dead that mapped the road between the two trenches reminded her of her own history. Of cutting away dead flesh from men to only watch them dying from shock. Of dragging screaming victims from the field to endure their howls while she tried to save them. All of it set to the constant drumming of cannon fire, dropped bombs, guns, and the cries of the damned._

 _She directed her attention directly in front of her and noted the huddled form of John. Walking to him she crouched within his vision and held out a hand when he shied away from her. "It's alright. I'm here to help."_

 _"What are you doing here? The medical tent's there!" He threw an arm behind him, trying to get her out of the line of fire his mind created. "You shouldn't be in the middle of the field."_

 _"But we're not in a field." She pulled the shoulder of his uniform, "Captain, this is all in your mind."_

 _"Have you gone mad?" He dragged her to the ground, covering her with his own form. "The Germans'll see you."_

 _She pushed at his shoulder, rolling him off. "The Germans aren't real. The war's over Captain."_

 _"It's all around us."_

 _She put her hands on his cheeks, forcing him to look at her. "It's in your mind. That's where we are now. In your mind. It's not real anymore. You're not here anymore."_

 _He blinked at her, his eyes twisted in confusion, but she noted the way the sounds faded. Slowly the scene around them settled to a small house. She pulled back only to watch him duck a thrown piece of crockery._

 _A screeching sound filled the little kitchen as another china dish crashed into the wall, shattering to cover the floor with ceramic. "I can't take it anymore."_

 _"Vera stop!" John held up his hands but dodged a plate. "You're breaking everything."_

 _"It's all shite anyway Batesy." She snarled, snatching a knife from the breadboard. There's nothing here for us. Nothing but the leftovers your mother spared us."_

 _"Vera I've a job in Oz. Just come with me."_

 _"Move to the other side of the world to live the pauper existence of a surveyor's wife." She cackled, charging him with the knife until he used the table between them to stop her. "I think not."_

 _"Then what do you want me to do?" John ducked another plate but was not fast enough to miss the cut with the knife. It scratched over his face, immediately drawing blood to course over his cheek. "Vera!"_

 _"I always knew it was a mistake to marry you. I should've left you when you refused to die in those trenches." She threw the knife and it scraped over the wall before knocking on the floor. "You're nothing John Bates. Nothing!"_

 _She left the room and John collapsed into a chair. His eyes welled with tears and he buried his head in his hands, unconscious to the blood still leaking from the slice on his cheek. A hand on his shoulder did nothing to stifle the sobs, though a hitch indicated he recognized the gesture, and even the cloth to his face altered none of his behavior._

 _"She's gone now. There's no need to carry her around with you any more than you need carry the battlefield with you." Her tone was low, slow, and soft. His sobs lessened, his shoulders relaxed, and his hands dropped from his face to see her. "You can leave her here. She doesn't need to take up any more of your time."_

 _"She was right."_

 _"I doubt that very much."_

 _"I can't escape her."_

 _"You can. Leave this. Leave her. Move onward and stop looking back. Stop letting it chain you down when you could be much, much more." She waited and he nodded, "Are you ready to dream again?"_

 _With a tug on his hand she pulled him toward the light._

* * *

Anna opened her eyes, stretching against the back of the chair, and cracking her stiff back. With a glance down she noted John sleeping peacefully on the cot, his breathing even and deep. She smiled to herself, standing as Anu entered the field hospital.

She put a finger to her lips and motioned him to a corner. "He's sleeping peacefully now. I don't expect him up before the bell."

"And you?" He ducked his head to see her face, "Are you well?"

"I fell asleep in the chair."

"That's not what I meant."

"I know." Anna waved a hand at him, "I'm fine. I'm sure what I did was only the beginning and he'll have other restless nights but I think it set his mind right."

"You're sure?"

"He's not raving or thrashing so I'd say it's all good signs." Anna rubbed her eyes, "I'm going to rest myself. I'm absolutely shattered."

"Anna," She turned as Anu put a hand on her shoulder. "I apologize for what I said earlier. That was out of line."

"It's a mistake we all make."

"But, to suggest that you are acting unprofessional in any way is not fair to you and I'm sorry."

"I accept your apology wholeheartedly and tell you it's forgive and forgotten." Anna clapped his arm, "I'll see you in the afternoon."

But as Anna walked into her own room she wondered if it really was all as good as she claimed it to be.


	4. I Dreamed a Dream

John opened his eyes, blinking rapidly before turning his head to see the Sikh assistant sitting in the chair beside his bed. He sat up, his movements alerting the Sikh, and took a deep breath. "Where's Doctor Smith?"

"She took the night shift and this morning I took her position when I felt she could use some sleep." The man stood, "Are you feeling better?"

"Well I don't feel like jumping into the river so I guess that's better than your last experiment." John cracked out his back, standing up before reaching for his trousers. "Though I…"

"Yes, Mr. Bates?"

John chewed on the inside of his cheek. "Is there anything normal about them?"

"About what?"

"The dreams themselves." John pulled his shirt from the floor, buttoning it before tucking it into his trousers. "Is there a formula for what I should be expecting when I have them?"

"I couldn't say Mr. Bates." The Sikh handed over a canteen, "But if you don't sleep better this evening then there's something wrong with it all and we might have to do something else with it."

"Is there anything else to be done where nightmares are concerned?" John gathered the rest of his things, "I don't think there's much else to them but bad memories that sour in our sleep."

"In the practice of many cultures, Mr. Bates, dreams are not only valuable but also prophetic."

"You think my dreams are prophetic?" John groaned, "I'd hope not since they're parts of the past I want left there."

"We all have those Mr. Bates." The man took the canteen back. "But take the next night to tell us if there's anything wrong with your dreams tonight."

"There's something about the ones I had last night." John chewed on his lip, "Is it odd that I would dream of Doctor Smith?"

"If it's not too impertinent to say," The man looked around, "And because she's not here I will say it, many a man has dreamed about Doctor Smith."

"Not in that way." The heat rose in John's cheeks and he swallowed, "I mean… she was part of the dreams I had. But not a passive participant or part of a memory but taking an active role in my own memories."

The man raised his eyebrows, "How fascinating."

"Is that not unusual?"

"I'm not the one to ask about it all." The man checked the time, "I'd better get on since there's a village visit I need to accomplish before Doctor Smith and I complete a bit of investigation."

"Investigation?"

The man stopped, "We've got a bit of a quandary in regards to the local population and we're trying to see what we can do about it."

"Does Doctor Smith always take a personal interest in the lives of the locals?"

"She's spent her whole life among them so they're more her family than anyone else I believe." The man nodded at John, "I'll be off. I hope your day goes well. If there's anything you need from us then let us know what you need."

"Well, you could tell me your name again because, I'm sorry, I've forgotten your name."

The man laughed, "I do know I'm not as memorable as Doctor Smith so I'm not surprised. But you can call me Anu."

"Well, Anu, thank you for your help. And, since you'll see Doctor Smith before I will, would you please tell her thank you as well?"

"I'd be more than happy to." Anu headed for the door and John followed after him, holding his hat in his hand. "I hope you're feeling 'fighting fit' as they say."

"I do feel much better." John put on his hat, walking toward the waiting car, "Whatever you put in that solution was strong enough for the fight I think."

"It usually is. Good day to you Mr. Bates." Anu took his own car to drive himself away from the compound.

John ordered the driver toward the mine, adjusting his clothes as they went. The car stopped in front of the office and John smiled to see Matthew Crawley coming out of the office. He climbed out of the car, thanking the driver, and walked toward Matthew.

"Good morning Mr. Crawley." John shook his hand, "Sorry I'm late this morning. Had a bit of a night."

"I'm sorry." Matthew arranged the papers in his hands. "But it's no trouble."

"And the mine's no trouble?"

"We've got a few workers down for…. various reasons." Matthew cringed, "But what matters more is that I think they've struck a new vein."

"What do the workers say?"

"Our internal surveyor thinks it's promising but they want your opinion before they dig too deep in there." Matthew gestured toward the office, "Are you ready to start or do you want some breakfast? I've got toast in there if you're peckish."

"I'm fine. I should probably get started on investigating that vein so they can actually get started instead of sitting on their hands down there." Entering the office, John put his hat on his desk to grab a few things before he belted on his tools. "I don't suppose you are open to a bit of gossip."

"That's more Mary's rub than mine but," Matthew settled his papers on his desk and leaned on the edge. "What've you got buzzing in your ear?"

"It's what you could tell me about Doctor Smith." John checked all of his things, "So far, what I've gathered from the information I have, is that she's lived here her whole life and been the doctor at the compound since after the war but I'm curious as to what you know about her personally."

"Not much, to be honest, and I'll be clear about my shame in the matter that the only relationship I have with her is either with her as my doctor or as my wife's close friend." Matthew frowned, "I do hope you're not looking to dig into anything too personal."

"She gave me the highlights of her story last night so I'm no, I'm not looking for personal information. What I'm looking for is more… a personal reference."

Matthew raised his eyebrows, "Are you going to ask her to walk out with you or something?"

"No," John shook his head, "I'm just curious if you know anything about her in terms of her education."

Matthew clicked his tongue against his teeth a moment, staring into the corner before shrugging. "I know she took her university training in England and got her battlefield experience near the Somme but that's about all I know. Why?"

"It's something about her growing up here." John knocked his fist against his other hand, "That might be a bit… untoward to suggest."

"Now you've got me even more intrigued." Matthew folded his arms over his chest, "What kind of question do you have in mind?"

"I know that the religious practices of this area aren't always Christian."

"The people aren't Christian."

"Nor should we expect them to be." John assured Matthew, "But I'm curious about how much of the local religion Doctor Smith knows."

"More than either of us will ever know since it's as much a part of her upbringing as Anglicanism is about mine." Matthew whistled, "Her mother was the nurse at the hospital here and from a young age and, according to Mary, Anna accompanied her on all those visits. She was as much one of the locals as the locals themselves."

"Then she'd know more than either of us about local religious practice?"

"She could teach us all a primer on it."

"Then she might know how to use a bit more of the… less approved forms of practice?"

Matthew laughed, "She's given me some questionable drinks in the past but they worked so I don't question any of it." He checked the clock, "As it is, I'd better get these reports all in and you're needed in the mine so we'd best get on."

"Indeed we should." John headed toward the office door, stopping a moment, "I hope you don't think I was asking anything improper."

"No," Matthew shook his head, "It's in all of our interests to be curious about one another or else how do we work together with trust?"

"Exactly that." John left the office, making his way into the mine.

The vein proved fruitful enough for John to start workers in it and by the early afternoon they were carting ore out of it for refining. John took his day early and headed toward town with his driver, stopping at the edge of the street, and advised the man he could walk himself back to the compound. Once the driver was away John started down the street.

As he made his way toward a shop he noted Doctor Smith in discussion with a woman at another door down the street. Smiling to himself he approached her, distracted temporarily by a stall. He picked up a vase, handling it and admiring the artwork on it until a voice distracted him.

"That'll shatter you know."

"What?" John turned to see Doctor Smith standing at his side. "It seems sturdy enough to me."

She gave him a kind of half smile before knocking the vase from is grasp. It hit the ground and shattered, breaking into multiple pieces and sending the stall owner into a tizzy. John gaped at her while she turned to the stall owner and silenced him with a few exchanged words, the man cowering toward the back, before she turned to him again.

"See, it shattered."

"Because you knocked it out of my hands."

"No, he makes the cheap ones for the unsuspecting people like yourself. Paints them to look grand but tends toward the rather less grand since they're just the cast off of the better pottery houses." She glared at the man and he shrunk again, "He's got his tendency toward fleecing people."

"You seem to know him well, Doctor Smith."

"Please," She held up a hand, "Call me Anna."

"I don't know if we've known each other long enough for that."

"Mr. Bates," Anna shook her head, "After I spent the night watching you sleep I'd say we know each other pretty well."

"Then I'll insist you call me John." He held up a finger, "But only in private."

"Only in private." Anna motioned toward the road, "Are you going somewhere in particular?"

"I took an early day."

"You're not feeling ill are you?" Anna stopped, "I'm worried that maybe you might be suffering some kind of reaction to the draught I gave you last night."

"Nothing like that. It's more about achievement. We're struck a new vein."

"Oh?" Anna frowned and John raised his eyebrows.

"What?"

"It's nothing. At least, I hope it's nothing." Anna shrugged, "Something Anu and I were looking into."

"He mentioned, this morning, that you were starting a kind of investigation."

"I hope that was all he said since it's nothing official and we're not stepping on any toes." Anna pointed toward the shop where the woman he noted speaking with her before had gone in. "I was actually curious about something and wanted to ask your opinion about it."

"I also have a few things I'm curious about as well." John waved his hand at Anna, "But you first."

"Do you have plans, for Sunday?"

"I'm not overly church-going if that's what you're asking."

"To each their own in that." Anna smiled, "But no, it was more about dinner. If you're not otherwise engaged I've got an open invitation to dinner that evening. I was already bringing Anu but since our host is already very acquainted with him it would otherwise seem just a family party."

"And you'd want me to intrude on a family party?"

"I'd want you to have a place here and get to know some people in the town since you'll be here for some time. At least I hope you are."

"I've no plans to leave." John took a breath, "Maybe I'd be a fool to say no about the dinner invitation sine there's no other plans in my diary for Sunday."

"Then I'll let our host know." Anna went to walk away but stopped, "I believe there was something you wanted to ask me."

"You might find it rather rude."

"Now you have to ask me because I'm not one who reacts well to too much curiosity." Anna bit back a smirk but John caught the expression. "Would it have something to do with what you questioned Mr. Matthew Crawley about this morning once you left our small hospital?"

"How'd you know?"

"Matthew saw me this morning, once I was back from some rounds, and we chatted a bit." She frowned, "I found it odd since we rarely talk about anything not business related… unless Mary's there and even when she is it's all straight forward chat about making lives better. Nothing too personal."

"Then you're not offended I asked?"

"I'm curious what led you down that path of inquiry."

John squirmed, "It seems, in whatever state the draught you gave me induced, I dreamed of you."

"I'll take the compliment I hope is there and not the possible illicitness."

"Nothing of the sort," John shrugged off the heat rising in his cheeks. "It's just, you were taking part in some of my darkest nightmares as an active participant. A kind of… well, a guardian angel, as it were."

"And you think that's got something to do with what, exactly?"

"That's just it, I don't know." John shrugged, "I know there are a number of religions in this world and I'm delighted to know anything about any of them. But I also know that there's a lot more to what happened in my dreams last night than I could rationally explain with the basic details of Christianity at my disposal."

"You think I did something using another religion?"

"There are religions that believe in dream walking."

"Given my background those are mostly bound to the Indian tribes of America, not so much here but…" Anna shrugged, "I've heard stories of that kind of thing from all over so there's a possibility."

"Could you do it?"

"Dream walk?" Anna snorted, "I doubt it. My mind's crowded enough as it is to go hopping into the mind of another."

"Even to help them?"

Anna paused, "I should think that my expertise as a doctor is better used on the body, not the mind, but what little I could do- if I could do it, mind- I would."

"So me, seeing you in my dream, is not odd?"

"The mind's an interesting place and I claim no knowledge of it beyond the very basics of psychology that I read at University or sometimes read now." Anna checked her watch, "Excuse me. I've got another round to go before I've got to be off in time for the night shift."

"No, no," John held up his hands, "I've kept you and it's quite my fault."

"Nonsense," Anna smiled, "I rather enjoy conversations with you John. They're very inspiring and, if I can say, intriguing."

"Then I'll keep my wits about me so I can continue to be intriguing." John watched her go before turning back to the stall. "I need a good piece this time. Something bright and eye-catching. It's for her so she'll know if it came from you."


	5. Feel It Still

Anna rubbed her eyes.

"You'll work yourself off your feet at this rate." She looked up as Anu set a cup in front of her. "They'll still be sick in the morning."

"Which is the opposite of what we want." She sat back, taking the steaming cup. "You told him we're investigating something."

"I didn't say what."

"Because a newly hired man about to learn we want to shut down his mine isn't a happy one." Anna groaned, "This is what comes of deciding to dig in the earth for a few grams of ore."

"It runs the world."

"Should it though?"

"How would you run it?" Anu took the seat opposite her while Anna sipped at the tea. "Coal powers the engines of innovation. Salt and silk keep us fed and clothed."

"And gold pays for it all?"

"Or diamonds or silver or even copper." Anu shrugged, "We survive with what we have."

Anna snorted, "Because not everyone can just trade a goat for a nice pair of trousers?"

"Not everyone has a goat."

"Point taken." Anna raised her cup to him, sighing a moment, "Tell me, what do you think is making them all sick about the mine?"

"Other than the air?" Anna nodded, turning her head to see him clearly as she drank from her cup. "Probably the slag piles."

"The detritus?"

"If you make a pile of all the refuse from your kitchen it starts to stink."

"But that's compostable. Mrs. Patmore uses that for her kitchen garden and the villagers do the same for their crops."

"As they should but that's still got something in it. It's food product and cast offs. Imagine if the cast off was still filled with minerals and poisons."

Anna set her cup to the side, leaning over the desk, "You're suggesting that the minerals are leeching into the river."

"Possibly the groundwater was well."

"If it's already in the earth then why the worry?"

"Because it was covered before. Then we blew our way inside with explosives and exposed it the air and the elements."

"You're saying that we're poisoning ourselves?"

Anu nodded, "That's exactly what I think is happening here."

Anna sighed, rubbing her forehead before opening her hand to him, "How do we stop that? The Crawleys' whole business relies on mining the ore here and selling it."

"I'm sure they can get into another industry."

"What about the workers?"

"They'll be less sick if they're not breathing that air or drinking that water."

"I know." Anna craned her neck back, shutting her eyes and shaking her head before facing Anu again. "I've bit off more than we can chew."

"Because you want to tell the man who pays your wage that he's about to lose his income?"

"Because I've just opened Pandora's Box and doomed us both." Anna folded her arms and nodded toward him, "Why did you mention this investigation to Mr. Bates?"

"He told you I did?"

"When I saw him in the village."

Anu nodded his head to the side, "I was just making conversation."

"This was between the two of us, Anu. We don't want anyone to stop us before we even get started and we don't want to cause a panic."

"I didn't say anything to tell him what we're doing."

"If he breathes a word of it to Mr. Crawley we're finished." Anna pushed her hair back from her forehead, "He won't listen to us if he thinks it'll threaten the business."

"I think you're wrong. Mr. Crawley's never been anything but kind and fair to his workers and the people here." Anu held his ground, "If we told him our worries I think he'd look into it with serious concern."

"I think he would too but then Mary would look into it and she's not always as open minded as he is and that'll spell the end for us when she shuts us down."

"I didn't think of Mrs. Crawley as being so heartless."

Anna snorted, "She has her moments. She can be a bit of a bully and she wants her own way. If she thinks this'll inhibit her she won't think twice until it's too late and she regrets it."

"And let us never give the Blessed Lady Mary something to regret?"

Anna gave Anu a scowl but it moved into a smile, "Make fun all you want but she's like a sister to me and I'd like to preserve that relationship, thank you."

Anu held up his hands in surrender, "Far be it from me to doubt your trust in Mrs. Crawley."

Anna sighed, pushing herself up from the desk, "Are you still coming to dinner on Sunday?"

"I never say no to Mrs. Hughes offering to feed me."

"One never should." Anna bent to get something from her desk as Anu spoke again.

"It'll be seventeen years won't it?"

Anna stood straight, keeping her focus on her bag. "To the day."

"Anna-"

She closed her eyes, screwing them shut a moment before facing him. "I'm fine, Anu."

"I know how hard it is for you."

"Which part? The part where my father left when I was five because he wanted his life in England more? Or the part where my mother was still in love with a man who didn't love her? Or the part where she gave her life to save the same man who left her for his real wife?"

"She loved him."

"Then she was a fool." Anna snapped her case closed, "She died doing something everyone told her she wasn't supposed to do."

"There's always a risk with voodoo."

"She knew the risk and she chose that man over me. Over living here, with me. Over making a life here, with me." Anna heard her hand shaking against her case and clenched her fist to stop it. "She traded her life in a dangerous voodoo incantation for the man she loved who never loved her."

"Are you angry about that or that he never loved you?" Anna stared at Anu, her mouth dropping open. "I didn't mean-"

"No, I think for the first time you said exactly what you mean about it all." Anna wrenched her case off her desk, "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Anna-"

But Anna was already out the door, walking down the steps of the hospital. Turning to round the parked cars she collided with someone in the dark. Arms reached out to stop her falling and Anna grasped hold of the man's shirt.

"You're in a bit of a hurry." Anna turned up to see John and quickly regained her footing.

"I guess I was."

"Anything I can do to help you?"

"Thank you but I doubt it." Anna went to leave but felt John's hand on her arm.

"Even if it's just a listening ear?"

She chewed the inside of her cheek a moment before shrugging, "I've just had a bit of an argument with someone and I need a minute to clear my head."

"Mr. Anu?"

"Technically it's Mr. Singh, since he's a Rajput, but yes it was with Anu."

"You two are awfully close. I'd hate for there to be any discord between you."

Anna snorted, "We're almost like siblings so a little discord's to be expected."

"Siblings?"

"We work together in close quarters, we work together in this environment, and we rely on one another." Anna motioned toward one of the cars and they climbed in the back, taking a seat while Anna leaned to put her bag on the seat in front of them. "He's the closest thing I have to a brother."

"You've no other siblings?"

"Technically I've a half-sister, in England, but she has no idea I exist."

"What about the Crawleys?" John pointed over his shoulder toward the large house in the center of the compound. "They're practically your family."

"Practically." Anna smiled, "They've been very good to me but they aren't family in the same way."

"How's that?"

"You should never feel beholden to family." Anna stared ahead, "It's always something, at the back of your mind, that you owe them more than you can give and while they'll never say it you know they feel it too."

"The inevitable tug of an unpaid debt."

Anna turned to John, "Exactly that Mr. Bates."

"I thought we agreed I'd be 'John' in private."

"Sorry." Anna adjusted in her seat, leaning an arm over the seat in front of her to turn her body toward him. "Is that why you're here?"

"What?"

"An unpaid debt?"

"Yes but not the kind of debt where I owe someone something."

"Then it's Mr. Crawley who owes you?"

John struggled to find his words for a moment, "Something like that."

"I have been curious what brings a man like yourself to the pits of Africa from the backcountry of Australia."

"I came because I got tired of watching myself sink into the bottle to drown my worries and when I finally crawled out I didn't like where I was."

Anna stayed silent a moment, "What drove you to drink?"

"My wife."

"I didn't know you were married."

John scoffed, "If I'd had my way I wouldn't be at the moment. I would've been divorced the moment I put foot to soil in Oz but the bitch-" he stopped himself, "I'm sorry. That was unkind."

"I grew up around miners and working men, John. I'm used to it."

"Doesn't mean you should be." He took a deep breath before laughing a little. "I thought I'd be helping you and here I am, spilling everything to you."

"That's how it works. We learn to share one another's pain."

John just breathed for a moment before speaking, "Is that what you did last night? Share my pain?"

Anna bit her tongue, only nodding in response.

"Why didn't you say so when I asked you?"

"It's difficult to explain." He waited and Anna drew her legs under herself, as if steeling herself with what she was about to say. "It's not a perfect science and I haven't done it since the last individual went a bit mad."

"The man who tried to drown himself in the river?"

"Yes."

"Then why do it?"

Anna let out her breath, "Because you needed it."

"That was it?"

"I saw a man in pain, John. Someone battling his demons, and I wanted to help in whatever way I could."

"Did you know it would work?"

"I'd be lying if I said I was completely certain." Anna shifted in place, "Anu thought I was making a mistake and advised me against it."

"But you did it anyway?"

"Some people should be worth the risk." Anna pointed at John, "You carried so much pain that anything I could do would help you."

"Then why ask about my wife if you already knew who she was?"

"I knew you had a wife then. I didn't know you were still married." Anna sat straighter, "What I saw stays between you and I. The purpose of the exercise was to clear your mind and ease your soul. To help you come to terms with the pain you bore in a way that allowed your mind to work around it."

"Why didn't it work with the other man?"

Anna sighed, "He… He developed an attachment to me. He heard, through a few of the native workers, that I performed this on a few of the villagers. One of them admitted, under duress as I later discovered, the broad strokes of what I did to help the others. He came to me, claiming to have similar maladies and I didn't question him about it."

"Why not?"

"Most people don't feign night terrors or lasting trauma." Anna stroked her finger along the seat, focusing on that inside of John's face. "I had my own demons that I carried with me from the war and I believed him, empathized with his suffering even. I thought I was helping him."

John tapped his finger against the seat, "Why would he pretend that?"

"Because he wanted me in his mind."

"You told me the demonic nightmares were due to him drinking and then taking the medicine."

"He did that too." Anna shuddered, "I knew the moment I entered his mind it was a mistake."

"How so?"

"Because all his thoughts were about me and not in the kind of situations that I'd feel comfortable discussing in public." Anna suppressed a shudder. "When I tried to escape his mind he struggled to keep me there. Breaking away from the mind, especially when it's already floating on the vapors of alcohol, is damaging. The result drove him mad."

"Hence tossing himself into the river?"

Anna nodded, "He's being seen to by a specialist in town but he's starkers."

"Then we're lucky you didn't know me before you gave me the medicine."

"Why's that?"

"Because I haven't stopped thinking about you."

Anna's jaw dropped. "What?"

"I don't mean to frighten you and I'm not going to convince you to take another tour of my mind but…" John fumbled for his words. "I can't get you out of my thoughts."

"I hope it's not too distracting."

"No, it's actually been rather pleasant." Even in the dark Anna thought she could see his face reddening. "I should apologize for being so forward."

"It's not as horrible as you think." Anna risked a hand to his arm. "It's nice to know I'm on someone's mind. It's been some time since someone thought enough of me to think about me at all."

"Why'd you say that?"

Anna sighed, "I was engaged once, to a local boy. We'd grown up together. I knew his mother, helped save his sister's pregnancy, and even operated during a rainstorm on his younger brother."

"What a way to endear yourself to his family."

"They liked me well enough as their doctor, no argument there." Anna held her legs closer to her. "But they insisted he break with me."

"Why?"

"Because of my skin." Anna held up an arm, "They didn't want any half children in their village. The woman who had them were outcasts and the children are considered lost spirits, their identities trapped between the two cultures."

"They thought you'd bring that to their children?"

Anna nodded, "Any child of ours wouldn't be enough of either culture to belong there and yet too much of either to belong anywhere else." She gave a bitter scoff, "They also didn't much care for the fact that I'm a bastard."

"That's not your fault."

"Neither is my skin." Anna shook her head, "He was the only person who'd ever looked beyond all that. The only person to see me as someone who could share his world with him and then he left me."

"Without another word?"

Anna laughed, "In these close quarters? No, John, I see him all the time. I delivered his wife's third baby the day you came here."

"You delivered his children?"

"I'm still a doctor."

"He broke your heart."

"I understood why he had too and, in the end, I respected his family too much to hold it against them." Anna realized she could barely see her hand in front of her face and the lights around the compound flickered on. "We've been here for far too long."

"It's been one of the loveliest conversations we've had." John helped her out of the car.

"Given all we know about one another now," Anna grabbed her bag from the front seat, waiting for John to join her outside the car, "I don't think we're setting a great precedent."

John chuckled, running a hand through his hair, "We've made a rather queer foundation for ourselves."

"That we have." Anna shrugged, "But we're all trying to find our way in a new world."

"Not new to you. You've lived here your whole life."

"The world is just as new to me as it is to you. Just because I've lived here doesn't mean that I'm any better at managing what life holds for me than for you." Anna tapped at her chest, "I still feel it."

"Feel what?"

"That fear of the unknown. The fear of the future. The fear that we'll never escape our demons and be trapped as we are forever."

"Not sure I feel it like that."

"We all feel it. We just give it different words." Anna nodded to him, "Goodnight John."

"Wait." John dug something from behind him, holding it out to her. "I hope it's not too forward to offer this to you. A 'thank you' for what you did for me."

Anna giggled, tapping her nail against the vase. "This'll shatter just like the other one."

"He promised it wouldn't."

"It will. That man and his wares aren't worth your time."

"Then, Ms. Smith, I'll just have to assume you know nothing of decoration."

"No, I don't." Anna grinned at him, "I'm functional."

"And prone to spoiling the fun of others."

"Yes." She pushed it out of his hands and it hit the ground, shattering there. Turning back to his surprised face she held her hands up, shrugging. "I told you. Shattered."

"I keep making the same mistakes with you, don't I?"

"You keep trying, Mr. Bates, and I find that your sincerity is rather endearing." Anna pointed with her thumb over her shoulder. "I better get some sleep. I have to relieve Anu close to dawn."

"Your work never finishes does it?"

"People still get sick and they still need care."

"Is anyone caring for you?"

Anna stopped, "In what way?"

"In any way?"

"No," Anna shook her head, "I manage myself well enough."

"Would I be too forward to offer you breakfast tomorrow then?"

"As a way to care for me?"

"To show you how I'd like to care for you."

Anna lowered her voice, leaning toward him, "You're married, Mr. Bates."

"I am but that doesn't mean I can't be a friend to you as you've been to me." John shrugged, "No matter one's marital status they still need someone to care for them."

"And you want that to be you?"

"For now. Until you find someone who will care for you like you deserve."

"I don't know if that man exists."

"He does."

Anna met John's eyes and swallowed hard at what she saw there. "Then I'd be a fool to reject the kindness of a friend."

"Wonderful." He dipped his head to her, "I'll see you tomorrow morning then Ms. Smith."

"Until then, Mr. Bates."


	6. Immigrant Song

He shuffled by the counter, pacing and running his fingers through his hair until Mrs. Patmore gave an exasperated sigh and removed her glasses to shake them at him. "If you don't stop putting a runner in my floor I'll kick you out to the balcony."

John hung his head, cringing, "I'm sorry. I'm just-"

"Nervous, I can tell." She gave a little smile, "Any smart man should be when he's bringing breakfast to a woman."

"How'd you know it's for-"

"Because if you wanted this much work for yourself I'd think you'd took leave of your senses." She gave a little snort, "People like you are function over fashion, Mr. Bates. If you can't eat it with one hand while doing work with the other then you're wasting time."

"I guess there's truth to that."

"More than men'll admit. Ah, thank you Daisy." Mrs. Patmore turned to the girl who handed over the basket. "There's nothing too delicate in there but it'll be a treat all the same."

"Thank you Mrs. Patmore." John turned to the girl, "And thank you Daisy."

"I put in some chocolate, because Doctor Smith loves it." Daisy grinned, "It's so romantic, you two eating breakfast together."

"Back to work Daisy, before you get any ideas." Mrs. Patmore shooed the girl away as John took the basket with him and left the Crawley's back kitchen.

He weaved between the workers and laborers going about their day and ascended the stairs to the field hospital. John raised his knuckles to rap on the door and noted the slight tremor there. With a roll of his shoulders, he steadied himself and rapped on the wood.

It opened and John could almost immediately feel his face brighten at the sight of Anna. She leaned on the door, pointing to the basket, "I'm nearly run off my feet so I do hope there's something very sustaining in there."

"Considering Mrs. Patmore was the one to pack it I've no doubt she took care to make sure you'd be well looked after." John shifted his jaw, "Though I don't think this is the best place for this."

"Follow me." Anna eased around John and led him over the boards that acted like a porch, wrapping the hospital. They ended on a balcony, shadowed by the roof of the hospital, and overlooking the river. She opened her arms, "Better?"

"It's a quieter setting to be sure." John moved toward the table and placed the basket down. "Feels a bit removed too, which I think I prefer."

"Me too." Anna sat back in one of the chairs, crossing her legs to sigh toward the river. "It's my place when I'm feeling overwhelmed."

"You come here to relax?"

"I come here to sort through my thoughts, John, I'm not sure it's the same sensation." Anna accepted a plate and whistled, "Mrs. Patmore knows how to help you treat someone like they're something special."

"You are something special." John took his seat, and tapped his temple. "You sorted out this mess and that's worth as many nice things as I can manage for you."

"You're sweet but all I did was help you navigate through it all." Anna popped a piece of fruit into her mouth, "How are you sleeping now?"

"Much better. Barely a nightmare."

"Good."

They sat in silence a minute more, the rush of the river below them setting the pattern for their breathing. John went to speak and Anna spluttered at the same time. They laughed and John pointed to her.

"Ladies first."

"But you were about to say something."

"I insist."

Anna smiled, "Alright. I just wanted to apologize for breaking that vase last night."

"You said it would shatter and it did."

"But still," Anna shrugged, "You were trying to demonstrate your gratitude and it must've seemed rather rude of me to just brush it off like that."

"I'll admit that, in the past, most women have taken to my trinkets and gifts with slightly more fervor than yourself."

Anna grinned, "Can I guess that these were favors in return for services rendered?"

"More like inquiries into services to be rendered." John laughed with her, "But the vase had no meaning beyond a kindness."

"I wouldn't have expected anything less from you John." Anna sighed, "But your friendship is worth more to me than anything you can give me and I want you to know that."

"I think I'm realizing that as well." John took a deep breath, "You can't put a price on the kind of intimacy one has with a friend they can depend on."

"You really can't."

"Can I ask…" John bit his lip, "Other than Mr. Singh, do you have many friends?"

"Not ones I'd tell what I've told you." Anna waved a hand, "Mary know a lot of it, because she lived it with me, and Anu's been here for a long time so he's picked up most of it but we all have those secrets we still keep to ourselves. Those pieces we hide in dark corners hoping someone, one day, proves worthy of ferreting them out of us."

"Then perhaps you could give me your opinion about something."

Anna laughed, "You never have to ask for that. Guaranteed I'll just give it to you."

"Alright." John set his plate to the side and stared at her, "Which is worse, thinking you found someone to share it with you only to have them throw it back in your face or never finding someone at all?"

"I guess it all depends on the kind of person we want to be." Anna pulled at her canteen a moment before continuing. "There's a thought that to expose yourself is to invite pain and therefore, as a means of preventing vulnerability, one has to sequester themselves away from all that."

"And the other thought?"

"That we'll have to be hurt, we'll have to give others the power to hurt us, and we'll eventually find the person who'll never betray that trust. The person who'll hold your heart in their hand with the utmost care and delicacy." Anna sighed, "Or else you'll still die alone and broken from all the trust you wasted."

"Is that what you believe?"

"I've never been betrayed to the point where I've lost all hope in humanity, if that's what you're asking." Anna stared out at the river, "There was a time I lost some hope but I found it again."

"When if I can ask?"

"When my mother died." She traced the edge of her plate, "And I found purpose again stitching young boys back together on the battlefield."

"Seems a horrible way to find hope in humanity." John looked down at the planks under his feet, "I feel like I lost myself there."

"We all lose a little bit of ourselves everywhere. It's life." Anna went to stand but stopped when John spoke.

"How did your mother die?"

"It's… complicated." Anna's face twitched and John frowned at the way her hands wrung on the tabletop. "In the simplest terms she sacrificed herself for someone else and the cost was her life."

"That sounds extreme."

"It wasn't a pleasant thing to watch."

"And you were nine, when this happened?"

Anna nodded, "I held her when she died."

"I'm so sorry." John reached forward a hand, covering hers. "I shouldn't have asked and I'm sorry it was impertinent of me."

"No," Anna covered his hand with her other one. "It's nice to talk to someone about it and be a little more free."

"I'm assuming you mean just the opportunity to express the emotion because I don't think you've told me all of it."

"I definitely haven't." Anna stood, "I've got to get some sleep or I'll not have the energy to tackle my afternoon."

"Forgive me," John joined her, cleaning up the breakfast. "I forgot that you're always available."

"What will you do with your free day John?"

"I thought I might actually get some reading done." John shrugged, "I've got that never ending list of books one always gains when they ignore the reality that there's not enough hours in the day to do it all."

"We've all got those." Anna pointed toward the building behind them, "If you want I've a collection of my own you could peruse if you wish. It's nothing expansive but all the classics are there and a few modern novels so you'll find something a bit risqué if you want."

"Why Doctor," John put a hand to his chest, "I'm not sure I should accept such an invitation."

"Why? Because you're walking the strait and narrow yourself?" Anna teased, sealing up the basket and handing it over to him.

"No," John waited until she met his eyes, "Because then I might get ideas about you that wouldn't be appropriate."

"I'm sure we could all use a few inappropriate ideas." Anna shrugged, "Or an indecent proposal or two."

"I'm sure, if things were a bit different, I might make that kind of proposal."

"And, if things were different, I'd accept it." Anna extended her hand to him, "Until next time, John."

"Until next time Anna."

She went to turn but paused, her lips pursing a moment, and faced the table again. Her hand dipped back into the basket and she withdrew the chocolate. Taking it with a grin she went into the field hospital, biting into the dessert as she did so.

Smiling to himself, John returned the basket to Mrs. Patmore. She raised an eyebrow at the missing chocolate, and his grin, and wished him a good day. But once John reached the open air again he found his eyes drawn toward the field hospital.

Anu, shouldering a bag with another in his hand, hurried down the steps and John worked his way toward him. "Mr. Singh."

Anu blinked, laughing a bit when he saw John. "It's been some time since I had anyone address me like that."

"Really?"

"Truly." He frowned, "Actually, I believe the last time anyone called me that they mistook me for my father. Or they were calling my father so I wasn't really needed then to begin with."

"How tragic."

"Not really." Anu placed his things in the back of the jeep. "Times like that are the best because it was back before we endured responsibility."

"That's actually why I find myself standing at your… car." John took a breath, "Would I be imposing if I asked to go with you?"

"Go with me?" Anu whistled, "I can honestly say that no one's ever had that request before."

"It's just that I've nothing really to do and while I told Anna…" John stopped, trying to cough past the red rising in his cheeks and ignore Anu's smirk. "Doctor Smith, that I have a stack of books to read I find myself with a bit of excess energy."

"And you want to join me on my rounds?"

"It's probably best, for me as the surveyor and as a resident here for the foreseeable future that I take time to get to know the area and the people."

"I can't argue with sound logic and I may need you hold someone down for me." Anu climbed into the driver's seat, "There are some of those warrior boys who think they're all tough until you have to push a needle through their skin. Then they scream like hyenas."

"Sounds terrifying." John climbed into the passenger seat and held on as Anu steered them from the compound.

"It's all part of the work we do and the life we live, Mr. Bates." Anu waited for a group to pass over the road before gunning the engine and taking them deep into the jungle. "I am curious why you came here."

"I wasn't one for the Outback."

"Too much wilderness for you?"

"Wrong kind of dangers." John shook his head, "I'm not an overly political person and I don't tend to fight too much for the common man but when I saw the way the government and the people treated the Aboriginals…"

"It's not much better here, if we're being honest."

"But I trust Robert Crawley to be fair to his employees."

"He is that and those who work for him don't have reason to complain the way other plantations and mining operations do." Anu conceded, guiding them on a path that had the jeep rocking a bit back and forth. "But we could also do to treat our fellow man with a bit more kindness than we do."

"I don't think some people have it in them."

"Everyone has it in them." Anu steered them around a curve and slowed the jeep as they approached a village. "Some people have just shut themselves off from it."

"Why?"

"There's any number of reasons, not all of them good and some that wouldn't make sense to you or I but are perfectly comprehensible to others." Anu stopped the jeep and opened his hand toward the village ahead of them. "But now we've an opportunity to do good in the world."

John put a hand out on Anu's arm, "I hope you don't think I asked myself along because I'm feeling a desperate need to be a Samaritan."

"Mr. Bates, if I thought that I wouldn't let you come." Anu opened his door, "Are you ready to be my helper?"

* * *

She pushed away the mosquito netting and stretched out before grabbing at her clothes. The hammock swayed and Anna caught herself on the wall, glaring at it while someone knocked on her door. Hanging her head to sigh from the depths of her chest she called out, "One minute."

Her trousers almost tripped her and her buttons refused to cooperate but when Anna finally managed to appear presentable enough she opened the door to see Sybil's face. The appropriate response was to immediately straighten, "Sybil, I'm sorry I didn't know you were coming in today."

"They wanted me here instead of at the hospital in town." Sybil shrugged a shoulder, "Thought I could do better work here."

"Any word about Mr. Green?" Anna grabbed for her boots and eased out of her room and into the tiny hallway to pad toward the main ward.

"He's not much improved but he stopped foaming at the mouth so that's progress." Sybil nodded at the mosquito-net covered beds. "You've done well here."

"We're doing what your father allows with his generosity." Anna waved her open hand at the beds. "It's not bad but nothing compared to your location in town."

"There's a difference in necessity." Sybil tapped the desk, "I thought you might appreciate a day to yourself."

"I wouldn't know what to do with such a generous offer at this point," Anna pointed to the waning sun out the back balcony. "But I'll take you up on it tomorrow if you're not too dedicated to the concept of church attendance."

"It's not as much to me as it is to Tom." Sybil smiled at Anna, "So I could offer you a Sunday if that's what you wish."

"Mrs. Hughes has invited me for lunch and I'd hate to cancel on her again."

Sybil's mouth formed and 'O', "It's the anniversary isn't it?"

"Yes, it is." Anna tugged at the edge of her button-down before forcing it under the waist of her trousers. "But it's just a date, at the end of the day."

"All dates have meaning to somebody."

"I'm sure they do." Anna almost added something else to her comment but heard noises below her.

She and Sybil walked to the door, pulling it open to step to the top of the stairs and see below. There John helped Anu lift his case and bag from the back of the jeep and haul it toward the hospital. Anna smiled to herself, returning John's wave.

Both women stepped to the side as Anu and John reached the top of the stairs. Sybil spoke first, "You're just getting into everything, aren't you Mr. Bates?"

"I think I've found myself a bit of something to do." He nodded toward Anu, "Mr. Singh here was kind enough to allow my company."

"Mr. Bates proved an adequate assistant in distracting children from their checkups and keeping some of our more tense individuals from worrying over the point of my needle."

"Please, call me John." He insisted, hauling Anu's larger bag inside the hospital.

"Then you've got to remember to call me Anu." The Sikh laughed before turning to Anna, "He's a wonderful aid."

"I'm sure he is." Anna narrowed her eyes, "Did you invite him along?"

"I accepted his proposal." Anu tried to keep the grin from his face, "I thought it was a good time to get to know him better."

"Anu-" Anna stopped herself as John returned.

"I'm feeling a little bushed so I hope none of you mind if I turn in a little early."

"Not at all John." Anu clapped a hand to his shoulder, "You were rather impressive today. I've never seen someone hold so still as a snake tried to coil its way around your neck."

"I've dealt with many a snake and not all of them were as innocent as that one." John tipped his hat toward Anna and Sybil, "Ladies."

Anna waited for Sybil to follow Anu inside before she trundled down the stairs after John. Her hand on his arm stopped him in his tracks and he pivoted to face her. It took a gasp and a step back to not revel in the way he loomed over her.

But Anna found her voice and spoke, "That was very kind of you, to go with him."

"These are my people, for the moment, and my mother always taught me to serve where you plant yourself." John shrugged, "I just thought there was more I could do than sit around reading."

"Many would've satisfied themselves with that."

"And they would've missed the chance to see the wonders of the world about them and meet people as wonderful as those I met today."

Anna shook her head slowly, "You are a conundrum, Mr. Bates. You spend so much time living in your nightmares because you believe you deserve them and yet you serve others so selflessly."

"They say that those who are the saddest smile the widest."

"And what do they say of those who need to realize they were wrong?"

John smiled, "That it's all part of the learning process and I'll take that as enough of an apology."

"You will?"

"Yes, and I'll match you one." John leaned down, "I think you're in possession of one of the biggest hearts I've ever seen."

Anna scoffed, "Whatever gives you that impression?"

"Because you're standing here, in front of me, and offering your friendship and your time." John straightened, "Those are the gifts of a great lady."

"I'm no lady."

"You are to me, and I've never met a finer one." John took her hand tentatively but gained his confidence when Anna did not back away. He placed his lips gently on her back and turned to face her, "Until tomorrow, Doctor Smith."

"Until tomorrow Mr. Bates."

Anna took her hand back, stroking over the spot where it tingled and burned. Her fingers still played over the spot as she walked back up the stairs, and right into Anu. He caught her before she could trip backward and Anna moved away from him, holding up a finger, and warned him away.

"Whatever you're thinking you can stop thinking it right now."

"I'm just thinking how fate works in mysterious ways to bring two such wonderful people into the same vicinity."

"Two people who, in a strange twist of fate, echo the hollow romance of my parents?" Anna pointed to herself and then toward John's building. "The doctor and the foreman?"

"He's not the foreman, he's the surveyor."

"Point is, Anu," Anna put her hand over his mouth, "He's in the same position as my father and I'm serving the duties of my mother. It's a cosmic joke that he's also married."

"Anna," Anu put his hands on Anna's shoulders, "He's not like your father."

"Was my father not charming, loquacious, and overall dazzling?"

"He was those things."

"Didn't he sweep my mother off her feet and then leave her pining for him until she died?"

"You're not your mother, Anna."

"No, I'm not." Anna straightened, stepping out of Anu's grip, "Which is why I'm not getting dragged into that."

"Then you'll miss out."

"I won't have my heart shattered or leave a child without a father."

Anu sighed, "It won't happen like that Anna. You're different people and you're wise enough to avoid the mistakes your mother made."

"She ignored you, Anu," Anna poked her finger softly into Anu's chest, "And I'm the price she paid for that."

"There are silver linings."

"That's not funny."

"I wasn't being funny." Anu thrust his open hand toward John's building. "That man sees you for what you are. He's seeking a divorce as we speak. He's not lied to you once since he got here and he trusts you."

"So?"

"So he's not going to betray you like your father did to your mother." Anu sighed, "He won't abandon you Anna. Please don't lock yourself away in fear."

"It's funny you say that since we just discussed that this morning." Anna took a breath, "It's better to never leave yourself vulnerable, Anu. That way you don't get hurt."

"You don't feel that way either, Anna."

"Perhaps I don't want that."

Anu scoffed, "Yes, because Anna believes she's not only unlovable but also heartless. It's the lie you tell yourself to dull the ache you feel."

"If you felt it you'd know what it is."

"You forget Anna, I have."

"Right," Anna held up her hands, "Because you're my messenger from God and you're here to help steer me on the right path because my mother didn't follow it."

"I'm here because your mother did me a good turn and I want to do one for you." He took a breath, "My identity as an angel has nothing to do with it."

"Then why don't you use your powers and tell me if this all works out then?"

Anu shook his head, "It doesn't work like that and you know it. Stop being flippant and face the reality that you're terrified."

"Shouldn't I be?"

"If you're smart, yes." He rubbed at his eyes, "But you can't let it hold you back now Anna. It never has before."

"Those were different."

"And this is more important."

Anna sucked the insides of her cheeks before heaving out a breath, "I can't bear to suffer what my mother did."

"You're not her Anna and you won't."

"Can you promise that?"

"I can promise you'll regret it to your dying day if you don't allow John Bates to love you."

Anna let her shoulders drop, "To my dying day?"

"With your last breath."

"Then cry havoc I guess." Anna stomped inside the hospital, "Why do I listen to you?"

"Because you know I'm smarter than you on occasion."

"Remember that 'on occasion' part." Anna went to her desk, "Because I'm this sneaking feeling you're going to be wrong soon and I want to rub your face in it."

"I give you permission to do that, when it happens." Anu held up his hands, "Until then, you'll have to glare at me from across the room."

"Good enough for me."


	7. Bad Moon Rising

John held the wrapped gift in shaking fingers until Anu nudged him with an elbow. "Mrs. Hughes isn't someone to fear unless you've insulted Scotland or someone she loves."

"And then what?"

"Then you run like bloody mad is what you do."

"Don't pay him any mind." Anna chided, shooting Anu a scowl, "She's the sweetest woman I've ever met and Mr. Carson, for all his feigned prickle, has a heart of gold."

"A perfect match then?"

"Exactly." She raised her knuckles to the door, turning to them both, "Unless there are any objections I'm knocking now."

Both men nodded at her to proceed and Anna rapped her knuckles against the door. It opened almost immediately and John jumped a bit at the presence of the shorter woman. He recognized her from the street when he first tried buying a vase and instinctively gripped the gift in his hand tighter. Anna looked back, resting her hand on his arm before nodding toward the door.

"My goodness you've brought someone new." She extended her hand toward John. "I'm Elsie Hughes and it's so nice to meet someone new."

"I'm John Bates," He quickly shook her hand, holding the gift tightly to his chest so it did not fall, and handed it over to her as soon as his first hand was free. "This is for you, I hope you don't mind it's hastily wrapped."

"Oh," She unwrapped it and cooed at it, "I haven't seen anything this lovely in a long time."

"It's my family tartan." John explained, "My mother's family were Keiths and I had this as something my mother gave me before she passed."

"Then I can't possibly take this from you." She tried to hand it back but John shook his head.

"For as Scottish as my mother's family was, I'm Irish and I'm probably not going to wear a kilt again."

"It's not my family tartan, I'll be honest, but at least it's something I can appreciate from home." Mrs. Hughes tucked it under her arm, "Though it's a bit warm for that kind of dress here."

"It's far warmer than I believe I anticipated." John waited as Anna and Anu preceded him inside the house and Mrs. Hughes kept her place by the door to close it after they were all inside. "I thought I was ready for it, having been in Australia, but this is completely different."

"What was it like in Australia?"

"Where I was, beautiful, but I took a few surveys to some of the desert regions and… I'd like never to be that dry again." John turned and found himself face to face with Mr. Carson. "Mr. Carson, it's a pleasure to see you again."

"I hope so." He shook John's hand, "It's our pleasure to bring you into our home."

"I almost feel as if I'm intruding on a family dinner by being here."

"Nonsense," Mrs. Hughes waved a hand, guiding them all to the table as the shutters opened wide to allow the fans to work air through the humid room. "We're all a bit starved for company I'm afraid and we latch onto any and all opportunities to meet and be met I think."

"We all need a taste of home." Anu agreed, taking his seat and motioning John next to him. "Sometimes I wish I could get more of my family to come here."

"Would they enjoy it?" Mrs. Hughes brought a bowl to the middle of the table as Mr. Carson and Anna worked a few other dishes between them. "I know that I wasn't too pleased when I first came. I thought it was too far from home."

"Everywhere, for my mother, would be too far from home." Anu stood and helped Anna with a larger platter as John only flailed helplessly in his seat until they all sat with him. "But I think my brother would love it here."

"The heat, the oppressive humidity, and the quiet?" Anna teased, "Who could argue with that?"

"I've found it all to be much more relaxing than I originally anticipated." John shrugged, "I won't assume anything about the politics or the hoops that the Crawley family has to hurdle for their success but I find it all worlds above where I was."

"Did your work in Australia do you in?" Mrs. Hughes edged her chair closer to the table and ladled a orange colored mash onto plates as Mr. Carson selected large cuts of chicken to pile on heaps of rice.

"It wasn't the kind of work or the environment that lends to a healthy mind and soul." John shot a look toward Anna but she did not say anything. "There were also other factors involved."

"I'll assume, based on your age, you served your country in the Great War." Mrs. Hughes passed him a plate and John accepted it gratefully with two hands.

"I did. I served with Robert Crawley."

"I've heard that many a person has seen terrible things in those trenches." John frowned as Mrs. Hughes punctuated her statement with a sign he did not recognize but that Anna and Anu repeated. "Those sorts of things cast dark shadows on the soul."

"Thanks to the efforts of Doctor Smith here I was cured of those shadows."

"Lending to your overall positive view of this place." Mr. Carson nodded at him, "People always make the situation better."

"Not always." Anna argued and then waited, the plates distributed over the table. "But we hope to be the ones who teach people to love and not to loathe don't we?"

"Exactly right." Mr. Carson extended a hand toward Mrs. Hughes on his right and Anu on his left. Anu nodded at John to take his hand while Anna took Mrs. Hughes before extending her arm to him over the table. "I'll say grace."

John closed his eyes, listening to the simple words of the mealtime observance and opened them at the resounding 'Amen' from those seated around him. Anu and Anna immediately picked up their utensils to dig into the food as John looked it over. He swallowed but before he could speak Mrs. Hughes smiled at him.

"It's not too spicy, just a basic sauce for the chicken based on a yam."

"Thank you." John followed suit, "I'm not as educated in the fare as I think I should be."

"Were you experienced with the native food of Australia?" Anu turned toward him, fork already working through the last two-thirds of the plate.

"It's an unfortunate fact of life there that there's not much native cuisine left to enjoy since it's being systematically stamped out." John worked some of the rice and lumpy sauce onto his fork. "They've developed a system there for taking the half-white children of natives and sending them to schools to try and 'breed' the white out of them."

"That's barbaric." Anna dropped her fork and John watched Mrs. Hughes reach a hand over to cover Anna's with her own. "To take children from their mothers when those children were forced on them in the first place."

"It's the ugly reality of the conqueror and the conquered." Anu wiped at his mouth with a napkin. "The superior species, as Darwin would put it."

"There's no such thing as a superior species and anyone who thinks that bought the title at the point of a gun." Anna shook her head, "It's disgusting."

"It's the dark reality of the world in which we live." John went back to his food, "The hardest part about it is there seems to be no good answer."

"The answer is to leave and never come back." Anna aimed her glowering eyes at her plate, stabbing ferociously at a piece of chicken there. "To let people live their lives the way they want and not trouble them with shows of friendship only to steal what they have and leave them destitute."

"What an interesting perspective from a conqueror." Anu met Anna's eyes, "Or the child of one."

"I'm a native, Anu."

"Yes," Mrs. Hughes cut in, "We're all immigrants here except for Anna."

"As the child of a conquered people, perhaps the perspective of the location of our birth not being synonymous with the situation of our birth should be something to put in question."

"Why? Because you were born of the people native to your land that makes you more of those people than my being born of European parents in this land makes me one with the Congolese?"

"There's an argument to be made about it." Anu shrugged, "As a native of the city you call 'Bombay' and someone sharing the cultural heritage of that area it would make me more Indian than you are Congolese. Despite you being raised here your education and birth put you away from the situation of life here."

"Making my experience irrelevant?"

"I never said that."

"Then what are you saying Anu?" Anna put down her fork, "That if I'd been born with black skin in a hut it would make me more Congolese than I am now?"

"That it would make you Congolese at all." Anu sat back, "There are a great many gross problems with colonization. Terrible things have been done to the people who European nations, like the homelands of your parents, to make people like me 'civilized' but you're forgetting the good that comes of it as well."

"And what good comes of slaughter and enslavement?"

"The train, for instance, in India allows faster travel and progress. English as a common language unites otherwise disparate peoples." Anu took a breath, "I refuse to believe that all things are either bad or good. There's good to be found in all things. Just as I believe there are negative side effects of our best intentions. Side effects we may never see or realize."

"No one can be a prophet, Anu." Anna ground out and John finally cut in.

"I'm sorry but I feel there's another conversation here that I don't understand."

"I think Mr. Singh is referencing the anniversary that today is." Anna's face was blank and drawn but John noticed the twitch in her jaw.

"Anna, don't." Mrs. Hughes shot a glare at Anu, "Why'd you have to bring it up?"

"He's mentioned it because of something I used to help Mr. Bates recently." Anna turned to John, "Something that I don't regret doing."

"What's going on here?" Mr. Carson's bushy eyebrows almost joined over his nose, "I fail to understand what any of this has to do with the anniversary of Anna's mother's death."

"I'm…" John dropped his fork and studied all the faces, "I'm possibly more confused than Mr. Carson."

"Anu disapproved of what I used to help you overcome your… sleep trouble, Mr. Bates." Anna scowled at Anu, "And he wants to make a point of it by mentioning it at any opportunity."

"I already-" Anu tried to argue but Anna cut him off.

"Then why make a show of discussing how I'm not what I think I am?" Anna waited but Anu's mouth just closed. "Why make a point of saying that I'm not the person I think I am."

"Because as much as you like to believe you're above the rest of us, that you disdain the cultures that gave you advantage, you are those things. You are English, you are Belgian, and raised here or not you'll never be from here." Anu gathered his breath, "You can't act like you're above everyone because you're not like the rest of us, Anna. The troubles of this world belong to all of us and we're all responsible for them."

"As responsible as you were for my mother?"

"Anna, that's harsh." Mrs. Hughes cut in, "I was there and I know that Anu did everything he could to save your mother."

"That's what he tells himself." Anna stood up from the table. "Sorry to've spoiled dinner Mrs. Hughes."

"Anna-" Everyone stood as Anna left and John gaped at the other occupants of the table.

"I'm sorry but I truly don't understand what's going on."

"Without going into too many details Mr. Bates," Mrs. Hughes exchanged a look with Anu, "Anna's mother died rather tragically seventeen years ago today."

"I knew her mother passed but I didn't know that Anu was there." John turned to him, "You've aged rather well."

"It's part of my charm, Mr. Bates." Anu moved his chair, "I'd best go after her."

"Might I-" John put a hand up, "Might I do it? I think she's liable to bite your head off so much as look at you at the moment."

"Be my guest then Mr. Bates but I've got to face her sooner or later."

"Then let it be later."

"He's right Anu," Mrs. Hughes put a hand on Anu's shoulder. "Let him try to talk her down or let the forest do the work. We don't need either of you coming back missing limbs and the like."

Shaking his head to dispel the confusion of the comment, John nodded to Mrs. Hughes and Mr. Carson, "Thank you for the food and I do apologize that our first meeting didn't quite go as planned."

"It's the way of the jungle, Mr. Bates." Mrs. Hughes smiled at him, "And, again, thank you for the kilt. It reminds me of home."

"My pleasure Mrs. Hughes." John shook hands with Mr. Carson. "And I'll see you tomorrow Mr. Carson."

"Tomorrow Mr. Bates."

With that John hurried out the door to find Anna.

* * *

She turned, a crash through the underbrush warning her of someone coming. Anna raised her hand and then dropped it as John came into view, his trousers streaked with mud and a ring around his collar from sweat. "You've looked worse for wear Mr. Bates but this isn't exactly impressive."

"I thought the impressive part would just be my presence in general." John brushed at himself and walked toward her. "I wanted to make sure you were alright after dinner."

"You mean the fiasco?" Anna waved her hand in the direction of town. "It's nothing a walk in the jungle won't cure."

"Not to question your knowledge of this area but is it safe?"

"Nowhere in the jungle is safe, Mr. Bates. You accidently fall asleep in the wrong place and you're bound to be gnawed on by something." Anna motioned him toward her. "Best to stay close to me then if you're going to be out here."

"Do you really find it relaxing?" John worked over a large tree to meet her. "I find it all puts my rather uncomfortably on my toes."

"Was your time in Australia any different?"

"Deadly for all the same and different reasons, yes." He eyed his trousers. "I'll have to replace these I think."

"I'm sure they'll wear alright for now." Anna guided them through the green growth, following the sound of trickling stream. "We're not far from a beaten path but far enough not to meet anyone on it."

"Not in the mood for company?"

"Not in the mood for Anu's company." Anna clarified, jumping a divot to land on the other side. "He's rather pressed me this time."

"If I can ask," John landed next to her, waiting a moment to settle before walking. "Why does he rile you up like that?"

"Anu thinks he's doing what's best for me because he's not of this world." Anna sighed, "He thinks he's doing the will of God."

"By making your angry?"

Anna stopped, "Because he's an angel, Mr. Bates."

"I wouldn't have described his actions as entirely angelic myself." John coughed and then stopped when he realized Anna had not moved. "I feel like I've missed something again."

"Anu's name, in Sanskrit, means 'the mercy of God is great' because that's what he represents, Mr. Bates."

John gaped at her, brow furrowed as his mouth moved to manipulate around what he struggled to say. "You're saying he's a literal angel?"

"That's how he knew my mother and knows me and yet appears equivalent in age to us. Or," Anna shrugged, "A little more you than I."

"Then what's his purpose?" John rubbed at the back of his head, "From what I remember of Sunday school angelic visitations weren't long-term assignments."

"I can't say I completely understand either but I'm not Sikh so I'm not sure of the particulars of their angelic visitations but it's what he is." Anna led the way back into the jungle, "He told me the truth about it when my mother died. Said he'd failed to save her and must now work to save me."

"It might be your tone but you don't seem to feel that was a blessing of any sort."

"It's not a blessing when you experience what I did at dinner on a regular basis." Anna stopped, tilting her head toward the sky and letting out an exasperated gasp. "It's like having a father who consistently hounds you about everything wrong in your life."

"I can't say I'd be overly appreciative of similar treatment." John walked next to her, "But I never met my father so I've no idea."

"Sometimes I wonder if we'd all do better to never know our parents at all."

"I wouldn't be who I am today without my mother," John reached out a hand but retracted it. "I think we're the sum of our experiences and while I can't claim yours have been anything worth praising they're still something that made you who you are now."

"True." Anna opened her mouth to say something else but stopped, holding up a hand to stop him. "Someone's following us."

"Anu?"

"He wouldn't be stupid enough to follow me into the jungle. He knows I hate that."

"Mrs. Hughes or Mr. Carson?"

"They'd never leave the main road." Anna ducked into the underbrush and motioned John to follow her. "If it's a friend they would've said something by now and if they're foe…"

"We've foes out here?"

"Mercenaries for rival companies… or men just looking for sport." Anna turned to John, "You wouldn't happen to be armed would you?"

"I've got a knife." John slid out a large Bowie knife. "My sergeant in the Army said to never go anywhere without one and I never forgot his advice."

"Wise man." Anna put a finger to her lips, "Follow me closely and try not to speak."

John nodded and they set off at a crouch into the trees. The voices around them shouted to one another in French and Dutch, Anna grinding her teeth at what they said, but stayed distant. Enough so she could wind their path around them until the voices faded.

When they seemed far enough away Anna went to stand but as she did so the hairs on her arms stood on end. She crossed her arms in front of her chest and scratched her nails downward. A small concussive force rippled through the growth about them and two men stumbled backward.

They blinked at her but Anna raised a hand toward them. "Leave us be and you won't regret your decision."

"We've got friends just over there." One of them pointed, leering at her as they approached. "They'll come when we call."

"I've got friends too and they tend to come when I call." Anna flicked her eyes upward, "You don't want to meet these friends."

"Then let us be your friends." The other man managed in broken English when he took a step closer.

But his next step ended in a howl as John jumped from the underbrush and wrapped an arm around his neck to hold the large knife to glint under the man's throat. "I think she asked you to pass her by."

"What, so you can take her for yourself?" The man wiggled in his grip but John held steady, eyeing the man next to him.

"So she can go wherever she's going in peace and you'll make your merry way wherever you're going." John pressed the point of the knife under the man's chin. "What do you say to the idea that you keep yourself intact and so do we and we all make our ways separately?"

"No," The man threw his elbow into John's side while the other one leapt for Anna.

John's knife cut under the man's chin as John stumbled back and the man in his grasp howled. Flipping the knife in the air, John caught it so the blade stayed lengthwise against his arm while cutting toward the man in practiced swipes. His opponent tried to fight back but John cut into the man's clothing and left his arms in stripes of red.

Anna dodged the other man's swing and hissed. From the trees above her a dark colored snake fell on top of the other man and the mamba immediately opened its jaws to bite into the man's neck. He flailed and tried to get the snake from around his neck but it tightened its grip and bit again before the man fell to the ground.

She hissed again and the mamba released its hold, slithering away into the growth as the man twitched before her. Crouching next to him Anna watched the man cover the bites on his neck but she could only shake her head. "You'll be dead in seven hours. You'll start to perspire, your muscles will seize, and your eyelids will droop. Your heart will start to beat wildly and the more you flail the faster the venom will move through your system."

"You're lying." He tried to sit up but his arm refused to hold him and he fell back as Anna stepped away.

"That metallic taste in your mouth and the excess saliva you're about to produce all say I'm right."

"You're a devil." He gasped at her, "Calling that thing on me."

"Not exactly."

Anna stepped over him, avoiding his grab for her and looked for John. But he and the man he was fighting were nowhere to be seen. She narrowed her eyes and heard a groaning from the underbrush. Digging through the leaves she saw the first man, eyes open and staring at nothing, with a smaller knife in his chest.

"Doctor?" Anna moved toward the sound and saw John, fingers gripping tightly into the bark of a tree that supported him while his face seated profusely, "I may need your medical expertise."

Anna looked down to see his knife buried in his right thigh. She knelt next to him, eyeing the wound before facing him. "It's missed anything crucial so if I pull it out you won't die."

"Lucky me." John worked off his belt and then ripped the sleeve off one shirt to stuff into his mouth. "Do it."

She worked the belt under his leg and strapped it as tightly as she could, ignoring John's groan of pain. "How'd your knife end up in your leg?"

"I-" John's voice muffled on the fabric and he howled when Anna used his distraction to jerk the knife free, pulling straight up.

"I'll ask later." Anna eyed the wound and then the knife before using it to cut his trouser leg open more. "I actually need to be honest about something."

"What?" John spit the wad of material into his hand, sucking gulps of air into his lungs while sweat rolled down his face.

"Medicine isn't the only thing I practice." Anna wiped the blood from the knife and examined the wound again. "It's why makes Anu so upset and why he keeps reminding me of my mother's death."

"How'd you mean?" John shook his head, biting back a groan when Anna covered his mouth with her hand.

"They're friends are coming back."

"Then hurry." John urged, stuffing the fabric back into his mouth and gripping his leg with both hands as Anna held the knife up for his view.

"I'm a practicing witch."

"What?"

The knife glowed, steaming and smoking as Anna applied it to the gash in his leg, muttering to herself while John squirmed and moaned in his attempts to remain silent. Anna wrinkled her nose at the scent of burning flesh, holding until she was sure, and then removing the knife to shake it cool. John rested his head back on the tree, eyes rolling under the lids.

"John?" Anna stabbed the knife to the side, patting his face to get him awake. "John, we need to move."

"What?" His eyes fluttered and Anna slapped him hard across the face to get his eyes to shoot wide.

"We need to move." She picked up the knife with one hand and dragged him to stand with the other. Moving his arm around her shoulders, Anna shuffled into the jungle, "We've got to get away from here and them when they find their friends."

"But you just said-"

"Yes I did." Anna maneuvered them into the underbrush, the voices closing in on their position, "And we'll discuss what that means later."


	8. Witchy Woman

Anna lifted John's arm over her head and helped him sit while trying to regain her breath. "I think we lost them."

"I hope so." John grabbed at his leg, "It hurts."

"It's not infected and it'll heal so at least you won't lose it." Anna dropped next to him. "For now that's enough."

"Enough for you to explain what you said back there?"

She did not meet his eyes, "I can imagine you've a great many thoughts running through your mind right now and none of them are particularly comforting to you."

"Unless the term 'witch' means something different to you than me then no, I don't." John grabbed his leg to move it slightly and settle into a more comfortable position. "Does 'witch' mean that you have evil powers?"

"Not exactly." Anna brought her knees to her chest and rested her arms on them, "It's just the easiest way to describe that I've the ability to tap into the forces around us and manipulate some of them to my will… on occasion."

"Is this something you've always been?"

"No," Anna shook her head, "My mother taught me most of what I knew about medicine and that included what she learned from the native population. That almost meant that she learned a certain kind of… we'll call it 'magic' for the sake simplicity. She used it in her work and because I grew up here, worked with her, and because I had an aptitude for it, I learned just as much, if not more."

"Always the star pupil then?"

"I can't help that I've got skills, Mr. Bates."

"I wasn't making a jab at your skills, Doctor."

"Then I'm sorry I immediately assumed defense." Anna frowned, "You've got something else on your mind and I'd rather you speak freely about whatever it is that's bothering you."

"It's not bothering me so much as I need a bit of helping working it all out."

"Then by all means…"

"You mentioned becoming a doctor to heal and to help." John moved his leg, testing the mobility, "But you learned your magical skills here first, didn't you?"

"I learned everything here first." Anna let out a puff of air, "My mother, and the others who taught me everything I know about my craft, taught me the intricacies of medicine as the world knows it, voodoo as the people know it, and the other deep magics here that tap into nature and the animal kingdom as the jungle has always known them."

"Then your dreamwalking…"

"It was based on a voodoo potion that allowed our minds to join." Anna shrugged, "I wanted to help you and the best way to do that was inside your mind."

"It worked." John turned to her, "And earlier, the snake and that puff of air?"

"The other ways I work my gift."

"I've never seen you use it before."

"It's about balance, Mr. Bates. I don't believe in using it for anything but the defense of self and others. Magic like what I practice is for the healing and helping of the world, not the destroying of it. Use in any other way is against the highest laws that I uphold."

"Then how…" John swallowed, "How do you reconcile that to the Christian upbringing you have?"

"God made all peoples, Mr. Bates. Surely you believe He would give them the tools to better their environment?" Anna smiled, "Just because some relied more on science than others doesn't make what they are or what they can do any more evil than another. It's all about intent."

"Fire in the hands of a madman is an inferno while in the hands of others is a tool for warmth."

"Exactly." Anna stopped, "I think we need to move again."

She helped John stand and moved him deeper into the underbrush. They worked their way along, the darkness making it a bit more difficult until Anna paused long enough to mutter something and snap her fingers. A chittering noise sounded above them and Anna lifted her head to smile as a monkey dropped onto her shoulder. It leapt off a moment later and Anna set their path to follow it.

"The animals obey you?"

"They… listen and sometimes respond to the need."

"Then…" John huffed and Anna helped him navigate over a tree obstructing their path. "Does your gift have anything to do with the argument between Mr. Singh and yourself at dinner this afternoon?"

"It has everything to do with it." Anna maneuvered them through the terrain as carefully as possible, mindful of every bump and hiss from John. "My mother was an expert in the use of her gifts and cultivated a great talent that she passed to me."

"Was she better than you?"

"At her height we're equals but my mother made a grievous mistake."

"What's that?"

"She broke one of the laws and paid the price." Anna set John down a moment, taking a few deep breaths. "In nature, as in all things, there must be a balance. You can't have anything for free."

"Don't I know it."

Anna managed a smile, "But in magic, it's a bit different. Sometimes the scales don't seem quite so fair and the weights aren't always even to our eyes."

"How'd you mean?"

"Heating the knife I used to cauterize your wound, Mr. Bates, only required a transfer of energy from the air. Calling that snake to aid me or the monkey to guide us to the compound was as painless as speaking to you now. But healing someone, traveling in their minds, or taking away their pain can tax a heavy toll on your mind."

"You mentioned that today is the anniversary of your mother's death." John paused and Anna could almost see the wheels turning in his head in the dark. "Did she attempt something with voodoo she shouldn't have?"

"My mother used an incantation she shouldn't have because of the price it exacted."

"What price was that?"

"Her life."

"Is that often the price?"

"With the level of magic she used, yes." Anna took a deep breath, using John's silence to her advantage. "My mother sought out a very dangerous, very ill-advised magic that would allow her to take away the pain and suffering of another to grant them health and vitality when they were on the edge of death."

"By your tone you disapproved of her choice of recipient."

"My mother was a fools still in love with a man who used her, abused her, and left her for his real wife." Anna took a deep breath, trying to force calm as she helped John up so they could move again. "She sacrificed her life to save my father."

"What?"

"She got word he was ill and against the strenuously vehement advice of Anu, she used her skills to help my father recover while she drained her own life away instead." Anna breathed a bitter laugh. "She thought the man who pretended to love her was worth her life when I was in the next room."

"Love makes people foolish."

"What people think is love makes people foolish." Anna muttered, "It's what leads to disaster in my line of work."

"Not to sound as if I might be reading too much into your assertion there," John adjusted his position on her shoulder while they squeezed between a thick growth of trees and managed to find a wider path in their tailing of the chattering monkey just ahead of them. "But might that have something to do with the last man you used that rather potent herbal remedy to help?"

"It would indeed." Anna laughed, "You are sharper than I took you for in the beginning and I regret ever doubting your intelligence Mr. Bates."

"I won't be offended to admit you had every right to be suspicious of my intelligence." John settled into a steady pace equal to hers. "What was the real story with that man and the potion you gave him?"

"It only works if the mind is ready and the user is honest."

"Not sure I could judge that."

"Nor me but I don't judge it, that's the work of the medicine and the magic." Anna lifted a large leaf over their heads as a clap of thunder followed a flash of lightning seconds before the deluge of rain hit them. "He was not genuine in his need and even less so in the sincerity of his desire for help."

"What did he want?"

"Me, as it happened."

They jumped when a bolt of lightning hit a tree not twenty feet from them and the resulting sound deafened them. Anna dropped John's arm to cover her ears and barely recovered in time to stop him tumbling to the ground as it upset his balance. She got his arm back over her shoulder and pressed through the forest.

When they reached an embankment Anna squinted through the rain, pushing wet hair from her eyes, and swallowed. "We've just got to go down this ditch, follow it a bit, and then we'll be right by the Crawley's compound."

"Won't they already be looking for us?"

"Not likely. Anu and Mrs. Hughes know that I know this jungle like the back of my hand and a little rain won't stop that. Moreover, if I do get lost then they know what I can do to find my way back out again."

"Does Mrs. Hughes also know that Anu's an angel?"

"No," Anna shook her head, guiding them to walk sideways to get into the filling ditch. "It's a secret he only told me after my mother died and I swore to never tell another soul."

"But you told me."

Anna paused, straddling the ditch and the water now rushing through it. "I guess I'm trusting to your professional discretion."

"The same kind of discretion you're using about whatever you're investigating that has to do with the mine I'm working?"

"Exactly that." Anna edged them along but dropped in a moment, putting her fingers over John's mouth while staring into the darkness. "He's gone."

"Who?"

"Our guide. He's vanished."

John maneuvered a bit to listen but shook his head, "I don't know how much I can actually hear over this rain but maybe he figured we could find our own way now."

"No." Anna shook her head, "He'd only leave if there was danger."

"Danger?"

Both looked up and covered the mouth of the other in the same moment as the same troop they snuck past earlier in the evening crossed above them in the dark toward the Crawley compound. Anna waited until the last one made his noisy way into the trees before she realized what they had done to one another. Dropping her hand hastily she helped John to stand.

"We need to hurry."

"Not sure what we can do when you're exhausted from carrying me and my leg's still aching."

"There are ways to warn people." Anna snapped her fingers and then stared at her hand. She snapped again and nothing happened. "Damn it!"

They both froze when they realized the volume of her voice and as a man appeared above them, training his rifle at them. "Well, well, well, what've we here?"

"Nothing you need worry over." Anna jumped forward, grabbing the end of the gun to yank the man into the ditch.

He tumbled, the fall knocking the breath from his lungs and the weight of Anna landing on his back keeping his head buried in the stream of water rushing by. She wrestled him against the kick and struggle until John grabbed at the man and pulled him out. A hand over his mouth covered his gasping and John put his face close to the other man's ear.

"Keep silent or I let her drown you in that."

The man nodded as Anna picked herself out of the mud, glaring at John but jumping back to his side to grab the man's collar. "What are you doing here?"

"We're working."

"For who's firm?"

"Carlisle and Bricker, London."

Anna closed her eyes and shook her head, "You're the ones after what's left of their rubber trade."

"They want the mine too now. We're taking the compound."

"And offering the Crawleys and their staff any kind of compensation?" John urged but the man only leered.

"The only kind of compensation we'll offer is that we won't rape the women and burn it all to the ground if they behave. One person out of line and we'll end them all."

"And cut off their hands to send back to your masters I'm guessing." Anna turned to John, "Drown him."

"We can't do that." John wrapped his arm around the man's neck. "We need him alive to testify against them."

"There's no paper trail or jury for this, Mr. Bates. Out here you destroy your enemy, you don't let them grow stronger to fight another day." Anna put her fingers on either side of the man's windpipe and looked at him. "You've two choices. Swift or slow."

"What are you going to do?" He laughed, "Offer yourself to me in exchange for saving them?"

"No, I'm offering you something I learned from a Japanese soldier." She dug her nails into his skin and he winced. "He taught me that if I dig in my fingers here, I can crush your windpipe. You'll suffocate slowly if I do that and it'll be painful the whole time you're dying.

"Or," Anna adjusted her hold, "I'll rip out your windpipe and you'll be dead in a moment. Lack of air'll do that to you."

"You're lying."

"Test me." Anna held the man's gaze until he faltered. "Swiftly then?"

"Doctor this is against your Hippocratic Oath." John hissed but Anna shook her head.

"This is the oath of the jungle, if you remember Kipling." Anna dug her fingers in and the man under her hold grimaced. "I may kill for myself, my mates, and my cubs as I need but not for the pleasure of killing. Those people in that compound are my family and my friends, which I count as one and the same with the aforementioned and since I don't take pleasure in this it's not bloodthirsty."

"It also says never kill man," John tried to grab her wrist but she slapped his hand away and he needed it to stop the man moving in his grip. "We shouldn't do this. He needs to face a court or something."

"The last man we tried that with died in his cell." Anna faced John, shaking her head slowly, "Why do you think there's a wall around the compound now?"

John hung his head, "This feels wrong."

"Then don't look." Anna kept her focus on John and a moment later the man in his arms hung limp. She tossed away what was in her fingers, washing it away in the rushing stream. "He's dead, leave him here so we can try and warn the others."

John released his hold on the man and his body tumbled forward. As Anna dodged out of the way she tried to grab the gun but it slipped from her grip. The crack of the shot from it had both Anna and John freezing in place, praying the rain covered the sound.

It did not.

Ducking to put her weight under John, Anna pulled them along the ditch, slipping and sliding in the mud as they struggled to reach the compound wall. Shots rang out around them and Anna ducked them behind a tree. Splinters and showers of rain hissed and flew about them.

She brought up her hands, whispering something and then clapped once. A moment passed and nothing happened but the men shouting in French grew closer and the thud of their bullets hitting the tree reverberated into Anna's back. Bringing her hands up to try again, Anna hissed louder with a longer incantation but nothing happened.

"If you could do something to help," John ducked as a chunk of the tree behind him broke off. "Now would be the best time to use what you've got available."

"There's not much 'available' in that way at the moment." Anna closed her eyes, trying again with no result.

"I thought you said you were a witch?"

"I said I was a practicing witch, emphasis on the practice." Anna curled closer to him as a shot came so close to her arm the displacement of air raised the hairs on her arm. "As in, I'm still practicing parts of it."

"Maybe you should've practiced more because you obviously didn't practice this part hard enough."

"Not helping!" Anna turned as a gun barrel came into view and grabbed the end of it.

The sizzle under her hand drew a wince but she brought her elbow around to crunch into the man's nose as she yanked the rifle from his grip. Turning it like one does on parade, she stabbed down with the bayonet strapped to the end into the man's stomach. Anna withdrew it and used the echo of the man's cry of pain to cover her firing into the group coming toward them.

John shifted and used the leverage on one leg to tackle someone to the ground. He snatched the gun from the other man's hands and fired at their attackers. But as he went to fire again he slipped in the mud. Someone came from the trees and tried to stab him with their own bayonet but Anna pivoted to fire.

The man fell back and Anna worked over to John, helping him stand. "We need to go now."

"I think that's wise." John put his back to Anna's, "Lead and I'll follow."

They continued to move, Anna passing her rifle back to John when he fired his last bullet, and eventually kicked against the compound wall. Anna pulled John after her and followed to the edge of the barrier. As he emptied the last round from the rifle as shouting from inside the compound brought guards to the gate.

Anna slapped the flat of her hand on the wall, calling out in a few languages as men moved on the other side of the barrier. Someone cracked the door opened and Anna dragged John behind her to fall through the space. They hit the ground as men took position on the walls and engaged the approaching mercenaries.

"Anna!" She looked up, climbing to her feet and helping John to stand as Robert Crawley and Anu ran toward them, Mr. Crawley's aid failing to keep an umbrella over his head. "What's going on?"

"Carlisle and Bricker decided on a new strategy Mr. Crawley." Anna helped transfer John to Anu's shoulders and put her hands on her knees. "They sent these men to take over the compound."

"Damn!" Robert put a hand through his wet hair and then turned to the man at his side. "Andy, if you can't keep up then you should probably just go to bed."

"But Mr. Crawley-"

"No, it's useless." Robert pointed to Anna and John. "You two need to get yourselves a bath, clean, and rest before you tell us what happened."

"That sounds best." John winced as he put weight on his leg, "After I heal sir."

"Doctor?"

"It was a battlefield dressing, sir. Enough to get him here but we should care for him." Anna waved toward the hospital. "I'll get him there and we'll get him well sir."

"This is a record for you John," Mr. Crawley laughed, "You lasted less than a week before you injured yourself saving us."

"My pleasure to serve you sir." John leaned on Anu and Anna led them to the hospital.

Sounds of the inhabitants of the compound waking and responding to the threat echoed in the hospital as Anu laid John on a bed and Anna cut his trousers fully off to examine the wound. Anu hissed at the sight before shrugging. "It could be worse."

"It feels bad enough now." John groaned and Anna turned to Anu.

"We need hot water, my surgical kit, and something to help him sleep."

"Not what you gave me last time please." John raised a hand and Anna turned to him. "I'm not sure I could manage it again."

"It won't be that. This is a restorative." Anna nodded at Anu. "Please?"

"Of course." Anu put out a hand, flexing it a second before he placed it on her shoulder. "I'm sorry, for what I said dinner."

"It's already forgotten."

"That's a lie." Anu managed a small smile but Anna saw the hints of something else there as she turned up the wick on the lantern. "But I accept that you want it to be forgotten."

"Then we'll consider that enough for the moment." Anna placed her hand over his. "We need to move quickly. I don't want Mr. Bates here in too much pain."

"Understood." Anu hurried out as Anna returned to John's side and helped him lose his muddied and dirty clothing.

As she reached to rid him of his pants his hand stopped her. "If it's all the same to you, Doctor, I'd rather you allow me to do that while you turn away."

"It may surprise you, Mr. Bates, but it wouldn't be the first time I've seen a male sex organ. Not even the first time I've seen your sex organ."

"And I remember the last time we had a rather clinical experience. In future, I genuinely hope your experience with it was pleasurable and not clinical and I'd rather you not see mine again unless I'm unconscious or we're both fully engaged in said pleasurable experience."

"Fair enough." Anna turned, waiting until John cleared his throat and addressed his exposed leg as he held a stranglehold on the blanket. "But you can relax."

"I will when I'm not naked under this blanket."

"You are by far the most reserved ma I've ever had naked on these cots." Anna lit another lantern to give her enough light to see the wound on his leg.

"There's a story there."

"There always is."

"Would it have anything to do with the man who fooled you into thinking he needed that potion to help sort through his mind?" Anna took a breath, sitting on a stool next to John and he turned to face her. "If you don't want to…"

"No, you deserve to know." Anna smiled at him, "We survived death together. That makes us battle brothers of a sort."

"Yes it does." John sobered, "I want to apologize for doubting your actions in the jungle. You saved my life and I'll never repay that."

"Let's hope we don't place ourselves in a position to require a payment on that." Anna took a breath, "And you were right. My actions toward that man were brutal."

"In defense of the people here."

"No," Anna shook her head, "I wanted to cause that man some pain because I needed someone to feel the pain I do. It wasn't kind."

"You had a choice to leave him suffering and you didn't. There's something to say about your actions, despite your intentions."

"They're the same actions Green made." John frowned and Anna shook her head to explain. "The man's name was Alex Green."

"What was he here to do?"

"He worked as one of the advisors on the mine. He was a consultant from another company and wanted to see how we worked our mine to maximize profits."

"And took a fancy to you?"

"I'm sure Anu made some kind of comment about how I've had people after me before?"

"He might've mentioned it when I told him I dreamed of you." John cringed, "I hope you're not offended."

"Given that I gave you something to enter your mind I think it's me who needs to ask your forgiveness for invading your mind."

"You helped me." John worked to sit up on the bed, pulling the blanket with him to keep himself covered. "I can't be anything but grateful."

"He was less so, when I failed to return his affections." Anna shrugged, "I wasn't interested in him and I think there are men who struggle with the reality that women owe them nothing but common courtesy at the expression of their affections."

"We're socially bred for a level of entitlement." John put a hand on hers, "Like I imagine your father thought he was entitled to things he wasn't."

"Thank you." Anna tightened her fingers around his. "Green didn't take kindly to my refusals of his advances and his response was to try and force my hand."

"You told me this story," John closed his eyes, rubbing at the bridge of his nose. "You said he told you he had night terrors, like I did, and when you entered his mind you found it filled with thoughts of you. You said it broke his mind for you to escape."

"And that he's been seen to by a specialist in town." Anna let her lungs fill with air, "At last check he's stopped foaming at the mouth and so his mind might be healing. That's something but he's still starkers."

"But it's not your fault."

"No," Anna shook her head, "It's not my fault and I don't hold myself responsible for the obsession of someone else."

"Even if it is with you?" John grinned and Anna managed to grin back at him. "Thank you, for saving my life."

"Mr. Bates…" Anna stopped herself, "John, might I ask you not to mention to anyone else what I told you in the jungle?"

"About your… other training?"

"Yes, about that."

John nodded, "On the condition that you'll tell me what you and Mr. Singh have in mind in regard to the mine."

"Deal." Anna shook his hand and turned to Anu as he entered. "Let's get cleaned up and then deal with your injury. When you're moving we'll show you what we've been doing."

"I'll take that deal. Now, Mr. Singh," John turned to Anu, "Would you get someone to care for Doctor Smith so I can bathe in private."

"It's why I brought Nurse Crawley." Anu stepped out of the way and Anna stood to mile at Sybil.

"I'm being overruled in my own hospital."

"It's for the best Anna." Anu pointed to John, "I can care for him and you see to yourself. You're not good to us if you're falling asleep during surgery."

"Fair enough." Anna pivoted to nod at John, "I hope you'll pay attention to Anu and actually rest."

"Only if you do."

"Then it's a race." Anna followed Sybil from the room, "Where's the bath?"


	9. Bad Reputation

John raised his head up from the papers in his hand and smiled, "Glad to see you returned safely to us Doctor."

"It's good to be back." Anna took the seat opposite him. "And your leg? Anu said you'd be a little overeager in your regime."

"I might've rushed the healing process but these few weeks've been as good for me as your visit to the Gold Coast was for you. The conference everything you hoped?"

"It was enlightening but my aim was for another purpose."

"Ah," John lowered his voice, "Your other expertise."

"Exactly. They've got ingredients and resources there we don't have here."

"Diversity is key." John tapped the map in his hand, "Like the mine and the rubber plants."

"Straight to business then?"

"I figured we'd delayed long enough." John shifted in his seat, stretching his leg out. "What's your interest in the mine since I know it's not monetary."

"Then you wouldn't be surprised if I told you my interest in it is medicinal?"

"I'd expect your interest in most things revolves around the healing of people. Mind, body, and soul if you can."

"Successes for me being in mostly the realms of the body and the mind." Anna shrugged, "I'm not a priest so I make no claim to the healing I may or may not make to the soul."

"Then what is it about the mine that's proving detrimental to your work?"

Anna steepled her fingers, resting her elbows on the arms of the chair. "How much do you know about poisons, Mr. Bates?"

"As much as anyone I guess. They're not something in my realm of study if that's an answer to your question."

"Then you're not aware that the mining process leaches poison?"

"I know there are derivatives of the work but exactly what they are called or their chemical construction are a bit beyond me." John gave his own shrug, "I'm no more a chemist than you are a priest."

"But you've conducted geological surveys before, in your work in Australia."

John frowned, "We did but I'm not entirely sure what my work for a petrol company has to do with working raw mineral out of the earth."

"Because you're probably aware of the harmful effects of those derivatives if ingested or inhaled." Anna took a deep breath, "While I believe Robert Crawley's done his utmost in the care and processing of his minerals, especially in consideration of those in his employ, he's not aware of the damage he's causing in this venture."

"And you are?"

"Have you followed the health concerns of those who work under you?"

John sat back a moment, furrowing his brow as he thought. "I know there've been a few with headaches that apparently leave spots before their eyes and sensitivity to light. Nothing too serious as far as I know. Matthew would've told me if he thought there was something more serious going on."

"I don't believe Matthew, for all his good intentions and his genuine care of the workers, is entirely informed either."

"But you're informing me?"

"You're the head of this operation, Mr. Bates, like it or not."

"Then what exactly do you believe the problem here is?"

"Poisoning." Anna pulled a sheaf of papers from the bag at her side and handed them over. "Over the past three years Anu and I've collected relevant data that leads me to suggest that you need to shut down this mine immediately or start with drastic preventative measures."

"I'm not sure Robert's going to like that."

"He'll like it even less when I tell him that his mine has no fewer than six cases of arsenic poisoning, three of sulfur toxicity, and even higher levels of mercury poisoning in children under the age of five in the six villages closest to the mine." Anna closed her eyes, the speed of her argument slowed to a halt as she attempted to calm her rush. "I know this is quite the accusation and I assure you I'm making no threats here. All I'm trying to do is my job."

"As I'm trying to do mine and, unfortunately for the two of us, that leaves us at an impasse." John set the papers on his desk and pressed his fingers toward them as if compressing the air there. "I can't do anything about this unless Robert knows. He's the director of all of this and while you'll argue I'm just saying that I'm making an excuse let me assure you, this is serious."

"So is the destruction of the local ecosystem that could leave hundreds dead, in significant pain, or childless."

"And if there's no mine then they're unprotected and unemployed." John lifted his hands, "There is no easy answer to this, Doctor, because it's not a simple question of right and wrong."

"And if it were that simple?"

"Then my answer would be to bow to my conscience but right now my conscience says we can't afford to keep this information from Robert. He deserves to know so he can act on his conscience. We owe him the chance to use his agency in this since it's his to use."

Anna pursed her lips, "You're an interesting man Mr. Bates."

"In the case of your comment I'll take that as a compliment."

She managed a laugh, "I'm guessing it's not been used in that context in the past, has it?"

"Whenever my wife used it, no."

"How is your wife?"

"She's still in London. What she's doing there I've no idea but it's not signing the divorce papers I had drawn up."

"I remember you saying you'd wanted a divorce when you went to Oz."

"And I should've had it but communication being as it is between England and Australia…" John shook his head. "The last word I had from my lawyer was that she wanted everything I had in England and I confirmed that deal. If all goes well he'll be here, or the papers will, by the end of the month."

"Will it hurt?"

"At this point I'd compare it to the severing of a necrotic limb."

"Severed many of those have you?"

"No," John laughed, "But you're the expert in that arena so maybe you can tell me. Is it painful?"

"Depends on how far up I've got to cut the limb to make sure it's not going to continue it's necrotic path to the rest of the body." Anna did not speak for a moment, studying him. "I wanted to thank you, for keeping my… other occupation to yourself."

"It wouldn't do for our friendship for me to expose what saved my life." John pushed off his desk, standing up. "Besides, I find myself in an odd position to be more than a little attracted to you, Doctor, and I find it exceedingly bad form to insult or threaten those about whom one bears an attraction."

"Then I find myself flattered and frightened at the same token." Anna stood as well, "I do hope you understand the reason for my sentiment."

"I'd guess it might have to do with the parallels in our positions to that of your own parents." John sucked the inside of his cheek. "And I do hope you don't see my interest as fleeting or, perhaps worse, an affront to you."

"I see it for what it is, Mr. Bates." Anna extended her hand, "You're a friend and for now that's all we need be to one another. There's no harm in that and I've no fear of what may come of that."

"Nor I." John shook her hand. "And I'll get these to Robert as soon as I can. I want his opinion on the information and when there's a decision I'll let you know."

"I'd rather…" Anna stopped herself, "If it's not too much of an imposition I'd like to insist that I be there when you present these to Mr. Crawley. I think he's a fine man and he'll listen to reason but I want to fight my corner while present."

"I didn't know you were a boxer, Doctor."

"I'm whatever the world needs me to be while I'm in the world." Anna glanced down and John realized their hands were still clasped. He released immediately and Anna smiled at him. "And, at the risk of proving myself a hypocrite, I do care a great deal for you as well, Mr. Bates."

"You do?"

"I don't often survive a brush with death and not think highly of someone, Mr. Bates, but I think the experiences I've had with you in the two months since you've been here have… altered my perception considerably." Anna managed a quick breath, "I may even go so far as to say our acquaintance has put me in the mind to think I might love you but that's not ladylike to say."

"It isn't?"

"No." Anna gave a quick smile. "However, as I'm not a lady and I've never a reason to pretend to be, I'll say it anyway."

"You're a lady to me, Doctor, and I don't think I've met a finer one." John tried to suppress a grin. "Or one more expert in a vast variety of skills."

"We've all got our talents, Mr. Bates." Anna nodded at him. "Do read through those papers, if you will. There's notes about the lead and cadmium content in the river as well that are causing some serious problems downstream and they need a form of address as well."

"You didn't happen to include an action plan with your evidence did you?"

Anna stopped at the door, "You'd want my advice?"

"On how to solve this problem, of course." John waved his hand at the papers. "If we're going to Robert with this and we've got nothing to give him but the problem he'll only clam up."

"You think he'd be open to suggestions?"

"I think he'd want to keep his mine open without killing those who live around it or whom he'd like to benefit with it." John put his hands in his pockets, "It's an idea and that's all I've got at the moment. I'll have something else once I've caught myself up on a problem of which I'm discovering I'm woefully ignorant."

"We're all ignorant about something, Mr. Bates."

"Yours must be a short list."

"Just a different one." Anna waved her hand, "Good day Mr. Bates."

"Good day Doctor."

When she left John turned to the papers on his desk and immediately set to reading them. And he grew so engrossed in their contents, taking notes in the margins for those bits he did not understand or needed more information about, that when the door opened he jumped at the start. Putting a hand over his chest he turned to the occupant of the doorway and froze.

"What, so surprised to see me you're speechless?"

"What are you doing here Vera?"

"Can't a woman come and visit her husband?"

"That depends, am I still your husband?" John stood up, tucking the papers and his notes away into a folio he secured in his drawer with a key. "If I am then I'd wonder why you haven't bothered to see, speak, or write me in the last three years I've been pressing to divorce you."

"So harsh Batesy." She clicked her tongue against her teeth, chiding him with it. "Can you be so cruel?"

"Can you be so constant?" John crossed his arms over his chest. "What do you want?"

"Must I want anything?"

"I imagine it's like breathing for you." John waved a hand, "Wanting what you can't have without the work needed to actually attain it while working to destroy those who put in the effort to actually gain it."

"You always knew where to drive the dagger."

"A skill you helped to hone for me. Now," John stepped toward her, "What do you want?"

"Nothing." Vera put a hand on her chest, the tone in her voice considerably affronted. "How could you begin to understand the pain of your loss?"

"I'm not dead, Vera, and you've had time to visit me, or even write me, in the past." John jabbed a finger at the table. "Which makes me all the more curious as to why you're here now when you weren't back then."

Vera took the seat Anna occupied earlier, arranging her bag on her lap and dabbing at her neck with a handkerchief. "I'm here because I've nowhere else to go."

"Why am I not surprised?" John sat down in his seat, "What do you want? Money's usually the thing you go after since you always find a way to take care of yourself in terms of other pleasures."

"Do you really think of me as something so lost?"

"I think you're only here for what you can gain, Vera." John closed his eyes, realization dawning. "You're here because whoever thought themselves daring enough to share their bed with you decided they won't share it any longer."

"He was… less than enthused that I was still married." Vera pushed a piece of hair out of her face, taking another round with the handkerchief to try and stem the flow of sweat nothing could stop.

"Then why didn't you just sign the papers?"

Vera shrugged, "I guess I couldn't let you go."

"That's a lie." John laughed, "You're not here for anything but whatever you think you can get from me."

"I am actually in a bit of a situation." Vera played with the handles on her handbag. "I've got a couple of debts that need paying and I'm not in a position to pay them myself."

"How typical." John shook his head, "I won't be helping you with anything until you sign those papers."

"John-"

The door to the office opened and John turned to see Anna there. She opened her mouth, raised an eyebrow, and then frowned. "I do hope I'm not interrupting something."

"That depends," Vera stood, her eyes narrowing. "What do you want with my husband?"

"I should've seen this." Anna pointed between John and Vera. "You are just the kind of woman who gets men sent home."

Vera snorted, "How's that?"

"In my experience?" Anna shrugged, "They'd shag you for a tenner and then get a VD as a reward."

"Why you little bitch." Vera stalked toward Anna and John moved around the desk to step in the way. He grabbed Vera's arm as she swiped at Anna, who only bent back to avoid the swing of the handbag. "I'll tear your hair out."

"I'd like to see you try." Anna snorted, "But I'm sure your normal weapons are a bit useless on me."

"Why you-"

"Vera that's enough." John pulled her back. "This is Doctor Smith and I'd rather you not injure our medical professional."

"Especially since you'll need me to give you a thorough examination before you do anything involving spreading your legs." Anna turned to John. "Are you ready for the meeting?"

"I will be once I get her out of here." John tightened his grip on Vera's arm. "You're going to town."

"Are you coming with me?" Vera tried to run her finger down John's nose but he dodged out of her reach.

"I'm taking you there and leaving you until I've got the time to deal with you." John pulled Vera behind him and motioned to one of the drivers. "I need you to drive us to town."

The ride bumped them along and every time they rounded a bend Vera used it as a chance to move closer to him. John pushed her back and then tried to shift away from her. She pouted but John shifted from the rear to the passenger seat and leaned over to the driver.

"Do you have a place we can put her?"

"There's a hotel where they might have a room sir."

"Take us there." John slapped Vera's hand away. "Don't touch me."

They arrived at the hotel and John tapped the driver on the shoulder, "Wait for us here."

"Yes sir."

John opened his door and helped Vera out of the vehicle. "You're staying here until I come back for you and those papers. Do you understand?"

"As long as you plan on staying awhile with me." Vera taunted but John turned to the woman at the front desk.

"I need a room for her. Somewhere out of the way where she can't get into trouble." John waited as the women took a key from the wall and handed it to him. "Thank you."

"Taking me up to a room, reminds me of how we met Batesy." Vera trilled but John shook his head and led her to the room.

Putting the key in her hand, pushing the door open, John nodded toward the interior. "Stay here and don't leave this hotel."

"Or what?"

"I promise you'll regret it if I don't find you here when I come back." John pointed into the room. "Stay here."

"If you say so." Vera disappeared into the room and John hurried back to the car.

"I need to get to my office quickly."

"How fast can we risk it sir?"

"How fast do you think we can risk it?"

The driver smiled, "As fast as I can sir."

They hurried back to the compound and John tightened his grip on the seat under him. At one point he wondered if there were only two wheels on the ground but they made it back through the gates. When the car stopped John's whole body shook from the residual nerves wearing thin.

'Thank you." John nodded at the man as he extricated himself from the vehicle. "I don't know if I'll do that again."

"There's always a first time sir." The driver waved him off and John hurried into his office.

John went toward his office but stopped at the bottom when he saw Anna descending. She held up the folio and put it in his hands. "I thought you might like this and you might also like this telegram that was delivered for you."

He unfolded the telegram and smiled at it. "This is the news I've been waiting for."

"What kind of news?"

"My lawyer says the papers have been delivered, or will be within a day, and then I'm a free man."

"That is good news because, from my experience, your wife is the worst." Anna opened her hand toward the main house. "I think there's other opportunities ahead for you Mr. Bates. Once you free yourself of that ridiculous ball and chain that is."

"And what of your ball and chain?" John held up the folio. "I read through all this information this afternoon and I'll be honest, it's not going to paint a smile on Robert's face."

"No, but this," Anna held up a smaller stack of papers. "Will."

"You developed an action plan?"

"I developed several and I think he'll look through them and choose the one that's the best of them all."

John smiled but noticed Anna's face, "Then why aren't you a bit more excited about your accomplishment?"

"The men who attacked us in the jungle, the ones trying to raid the compound."

"You mean the men hired by the Carlisle and Bricker firm?"

"Yes." Anna tapped the papers in her hand, "They're not going to be as concerned about the people they hurt while they're digging for minerals or trying to supplant what's left of the rubber trade here."

"I thought Mr. Branson had a solution to that by going to Indo-China?"

"The problem isn't that there aren't available resources, as yet, Mr. Bates. The problem is the exploitation of the people to get those resources."

John nodded, "Bringing us back to the conversation at Mrs. Hughes's that sent us into the jungle in the first place."

Anna sighed, "When you call a people your own it doesn't make them yours. As much as I detest the need to admit it, Anu was right when he said that I may've been born here but I'm not from here."

"I don't understand the suggested paradox in that."

"You can't fight against yourself, Mr. Bates. As much as I advocate and seek to protect the people native to this land I'll never be one of them and any attempt I make in their favor'll always be considered the sin of the white man's burden."

"It's a shame that the desire to do good and be god is supplanted by bad propaganda."

"I imagine it only gets worse in the future." Anna rapped her knuckles on the door to the Crawley house.

"It shouldn't stop us seeking to do the right thing."

"No, and it won't." Anna shook her head. "The crime, in this case, is that our efforts are drops in a very large bucket I suspect someone like the firm of Carlisle and Bricker would only kick over instead of using to stop a fire."

"There's no point in not trying anyway."

The door opened and John followed Anna inside. They took the stairs to the second level and met Robert at the top, drink in his hand. He frowned, "Were we scheduled for a meeting?"

"This is something you need to see." John nodded them into Robert's study and he opened the door to let them inside.

"I do hope this hasn't got anything to do with the driver you had careening over the roads from town."

"No, that was my wife." John set the folio on the floor, "Soon to be ex-wife."

"That's good news." Robert finished his drink and rested the glass on table. "But not what you're here to announce."

"No," Anna opened the folio and handed it to Robert. "The mine's poisoning the people and we have to shut it down."

"Excuse me?" Robert looked between John and Anna. "That mine is the only reason we're here."

"But is it worth keeping it operating if we're killing the people around it?" John pulled the other papers from Anna's hand. "We've… or I should say Doctor Smith, developed some potential action plans for us to successfully work the mine without destroying the ecology and the communities around us."

Robert closed his eyes, massaging the bridge of his nose. He raised his other hand, patting it at the air. "Are you telling me you've a plan for how I can sabotage my business without losing my business?"

"I guess that'd be the long and the short of it." John turned to Anna, who nodded in agreement.

Robert turned to him, "Is this what you did in Australia?"

"What?"

"Is this what you did in Australia? Collapse their business to try and save the people?" Robert shook his head, "No, you didn't. You helped them ruin the people there."

"That's not fair Robert."

"And you?" Robert turned to Anna, "You're going to destroy the business that made you who you are?"

"We're not trying to destroy anything, Mr. Crawley." Anna insisted, pushing on the papers. "We're trying to save these people and the business. But you know that if there aren't any people to work the mines or if they're too sick or dying then you'll have no business at all."

Robert faced them both, hands going to his hips. "You were both attacked by Carlisle and Bricker's men. John you were injured and now walk with a limp because of it. Tell me, how do I hold off those men when you're advocating that I give them everything they need to destroy my business."

"They'll kill these people."

"And if I give up this business they'll slaughter everyone." Robert shook his head, "I won't betray these people like that."

"We're betraying them if we don't make necessary changes." Anna flipped through the pages. "These are the solution."

"I could bankrupt my business. I could ruin everything we've built here."

"We're killing people." Anna insisted but Robert shook his head.

"Not yet we're not."

"Robert-"

"No," Robert held up his hand. "I don't believe this is the solution."

"It's the only solution."

"There's no solution here." Robert pointed to the door, "Now you could both take the time to leave."

John went to argue but Anna put a hand on his arm. "I think we're fighting a losing battle here Mr. Bates."

"I think, for the moment, we are." John led Anna out of the study and they walked down to the front door. "Now what?"

"I think we need something else to convince him."

"I'd rather we not try to find some kind of dead body to show him that."

"No, I think-" Anna stopped as someone ran up to them.

"Mr. Bates, you're needed at the hotel."

Anna muffled her snort, "I can only imagine what kind of trouble that'll be."

John pointed a finger at her, "It's not funny."

"No, it's not." Anna nodded at the man, "We'll take my jeep."

They drove through the jungle and Anna pulled the car to a stop outside the hotel. Noises from the inside had John and Anna jumping out of their jeep to hurry inside the building. John pushed in first and immediately stopped himself in the doorway.

Vera sat on the bar, her drink splashing a bit as she started another chorus of the song the whole room sang as the man at the piano started another round. John pushed through the crowd and pulled Vera from the bar. She tried to fight him but John picked her up and carried her out of the room.

"I was singing, John!" Vera turned on him pushing out of his grip and falling into the wall.

"Not well." Anna mumbled and Vera turned to her, throwing her glass to shatter on the wall next to Anna's head.

"You shut up or I'll make you!"

"I'd like to see you try." Anna brushed glass shards off her clothes. "You can barely stand straight with as much alcohol as you just used to flood your system."

"You-" Vera charged toward Anna but tripped and John caught her in his arms. "Let me have her."

"No," John picked Vera up and carried her to her room.

Anna followed closely behind, helping John situate Vera on the bed. She ushered John away as she started unbuttoning Vera's things and pulling them off. John only huffed.

"You do know that I've done that before."

"Probably with about as much finesse as she has right now." Anna yanked Vera's shoes off her feet and let her skirt hang over a chair.

"She's still my wife."

"And she's drunk off her ass." Anna turned to John, "Let's not make the situation worse by having her emerge from whatever hangover she'll find herself trudging through in the morning by having her believe you were here to unclothe her."

"Vera's never been drunk enough not to remember what happened."

"We won't take that chance." Anna pushed him toward the hall. "Let me take care of your soused wife."

John went to the hall and rested his head there a moment before pushing back toward the bar. One of the hotel attendants looked up as John ushered them over. "Yes sir?"

"I need to know the damage that Mrs. Bates might've done here."

"She drank a lot."

"She's Irish, she does that." John closed his eyes to try and situate his thoughts. "I need her bill, if there is one."

"There is sir."

"Fantastic." John spun on his heel toward the door and almost ran into the man standing there. "Apologies."

"I've a package for a Mr. Bates and they told me at the compound you were here." The man handed over the folder and John tore into it immediately.

"Thank you." John hurried back to Vera's room as Anna exited it and held up the papers. "There's a copy for her."

"Of what?"

"My divorce." John slid the papers under the door as the man with the bill came to him. "Please, leave that for the former Mrs. Bates."

"Is this the moment I wish you congratulations Mr. Bates?" Anna tried to hide her smile as she flipped through the pages and handed them back. "Now that you're a free man that is."

"This is the best time for that."


	10. The Grand Illusion

Anna finished sewing the wound closed and tied off the string before clipping it. "And please, for the love of your precious skin, don't go jumping into the river again. At least not off that rock because you know it's too tall."

"Yes Miss Anna." The boy giggled and ran off.

"They're always so reckless." Anna turned to see a man standing there, shuffling in place. "They love adventure more than caution."

"They usually are but I'd expect that from your children." She stepped forward to hug him. "It's not a surprise they're just like you Wasimbu."

"Too bad they can't be more like you."

"Getting themselves into all kinds of trouble?"

He laughed, "Exercising a little more sense."

"Maybe they'd have to be my children to do that." Anna chewed the inside of her cheek, "There was a time that might've happened you know."

"Anna…"

"I'm sorry." She shook herself, turning to her equipment, "That's water under a bridge long since washed away."

She did not turn when he sighed and changed the subject. "I hear you're fighting for us Anna. Fighting to get us all healthier and not let our children get sick."

"Trying, anyway. Mr. Crawley's not… not in the mood to listen just yet."

"He'll come around. He's a good man."

"That's what Mr. Bates says and what I know." Anna gathered her things, trying not to meet Wasimbu's eyes again. "It's just a matter of time before he sees sense and I'm hoping it's sooner rather than later."

"Aren't we all?" He shrugged, "But time'll change him."

"Like it changes everything." She stood up, "Like how time's changed us."

"It's inevitable."

"Some things are." Anna nodded at him, "Just make sure your children don't need anymore stitches or else they'll be more thread than skin."

"I'll teach them by your example." Wasimbu offered her his hand, "I hope you know how sorry I was… about how it all ended between us."

"It wasn't your fault."

"But I should've fought for you, Anna." He looked down at his hand and noticed how Anna did not take it. "I'm sorry if you can't-"

"It's got nothing to do with that." Anna nodded just over his shoulder, "It's your wife giving me the evil eye from her sister's hut and I'd rather she not get any ideas. I know what she says about me."

"She's…"

"She's your wife and whatever happened between us is in the past." Anna smiled at him, "Remember what I said about your children. They need to run and have fun but they also need to keep their blood in their bodies and their bones unbroken."

Anna took her bag, meeting Anu near the car, and climbed into the passenger seat as he started the engine. She closed her eyes, sighing and craning her head back before facing him. "How were your visits?"

"There's what I believe might be lead poisoning in a few of the children but I'll need to do a few more tests." He jerked his head over his shoulder, "I've got samples for it but if Mr. Crawley doesn't…"

"I already told you he didn't take too well to Mr. Bates and my submission of results. He hasn't spoken to me in a month and won't take any meetings with Mr. Bates at all." Anna leaned her elbow on the door of the jeep, resting her head in her palm, and moved her body with the flow of the drive. "It might be the meetings he's been forced to take with Carlisle and Bricker."

"He's taking a meeting with them?" Anu turned around a curve, managing the rocks in the path. "Why would he bother to do that?"

"They're cutting in on his territory and, according to Mrs. Hughes, they're making great strides with the local government."

"I don't relish the thought that anyone might be cutting down the fence that keeps us and everyone else safe from the kind of heartless conniving their company's known for." Anu paused, waiting for the gate to open, and turned to Anna. "I heard you told Mr. Bates about what I am."

"He deserved to know when I told him what I am." Anna kept her gaze forward but caught the double-take Anu managed from the side. "Desperate times called for desperate measures."

"Did you also tell him about your mother?"

"He already knew she died but yes, I did tell him the details of that particular encounter." Anna reached behind her to grab their bags as Anu parked the jeep below their hospital. "He knows my mother died trying to save the man who didn't love her."

"Love is a difficult thing to describe, Anna." Anu followed her up the stairs, "Having actually been there when your parents met, I'm of the belief that your father loved your mother in the way he could."

"You mean not at all?" Anna set her bag on her desk, opening it to remove the used materials and then replacing anything empty or low.

"I mean that some people have…" Anu shook his head, "At this point I'm talking to a brick wall about it aren't I?"

"I've the feeling you're going to now use it as a way to compare the life I live to that of my mother's and convince me that we're very different people."

"You are very different people." Anu insisted, putting his bag on the desk too and withdrawing the samples. "You mother would never have told anyone about her skills or her training. Even your father never knew."

"I can't imagine what my father would've thought if he knew my mother saved his life with a voodoo incantation." Anna pursed her lips and turned to her bag, "I need to get more ingredients. I'm almost out of thread and I need to make sure I've got enough saline solution."

"Do you want me to go to town for it?"

"No," Anna sat down, drawing a pad and a pen closer so she could start writing down a list. "I'll go for it. You've got those tests to run and we need results. It's better proof than a few pieces of paper."

"We could just show Mr. Crawley the sick children."

"We're not trying to make him feel guilty for what he's done. We're trying to help him find a better way to care for what he's got." Anna finished the list and turned it, "What do you need?"

"Give me a few minutes and I'll check." Anu took the list and walked to the other end of the ward, focusing his search on their shelves and then at his work area.

The door behind Anna opened and he turned in her seat to see John enter with Sybil. Standing, Anna gave John a smile but before he could speak Sybil began. "There's been an issue… in town."

"What kind of issue?"

Sybil darted a look at John and then jerked her head to the side for Anna to follow her to a corner of the ward. They walked over there, Anna folding her arms over her chest as Sybil pulled at her fingers to dispel whatever nervous tension made it difficult for her to just say what was going on. "There's been a development."

"What kind of development?"

"Mr. Green's conscious and he's asking for you."

"What?" Anna frowned and shook her head, "I thought they'd be sending him to Bedlam the first chance they got."

"Apparently they're starting to think they should reverse the decision since he's acting more like himself."

Anna bit at the inside of her cheek, "When did he regain control of his faculties?"

"From what I overheard when I was there for rotations it was about a month ago."

"And they've left it until now to tell me that Mr. Green might not be as insane as they originally anticipated?"

"He's been coming around since then but that was the night he stopped frothing and foaming at the mouth." Sybil took a breath, "You're under no obligation to go and the doctors there are still hoping to transfer him back to London for further treatment but I think…"

"You think I should look into it?"

"I think we need to know what happened to him."

Anna tried to keep her face blank but it drew closed as she bit down on her jaw, "I know what happened to him. He ran afoul of the local medicines and then tried to kill himself in the river."

"The doctors are convinced there's more to it."

"Because they don't respect the experience of the locals here anymore than Green did." Anna stopped herself, closing her eyes to ease her breathing and not succumb to whatever rising emotion fed the irritation in her. "I've got to go into town anyway so I'll look into it this afternoon."

"I don't want to push anything on you but I do think it could help." Sybil shrugged, "And it'd give my father and the company some peace about it all."

"One less person they can send home with a VD." Anna shrugged, "It's all about how to get the job done I suppose."

"You make it sound so heartless."

"It's a business Sybil, it doesn't run on heart."

"If this has anything to do with what you told my father-"

"It has everything to do with it." She turned to Anu as he handed over the list. "If you'd like, Anu's about to run some tests that will tell us if there's lead poisoning the children. Lead from the mines in this area. And it's not the only thing being pumped out of those mines. Other dangerous chemicals and poisons are leeching into the soil and the water. Things that are killing the people around here one slow dose at a time."

"I promise my father'll listen to reason." Sybil insisted, directing her attention to both Anna and Anu. "I know he wasn't at his best in your last conversation-"

"Not at his best?" Anna scoffed, "He didn't even listen to us."

"He's been extraordinarily busy trying to save his business from Carlisle and Bricker. You've no idea what he's going through."

"I know if he doesn't make changes to his process, immediately, he won't have a business left." Anna stopped, "Sybil, my interest is in helping these people."

"That's his interest too. I know your and my father's interest are aligned in this and you just need to find a middle ground."

Anna shrugged a shoulder, "I wonder if Mary would be on my side in this."

"Considering she and Matthew have been battling the office in London to combat Carlisle and Bricker about their attack three months ago I doubt it. She's on warpath to get them ruined for what they did."

"What are her chances?"

Sybil shook her head, "I don't know. They've not sent any information so I don't think it's been going well for them."

"Then I wish her luck in her battles as I hope she'd wish me luck in mine." Anna checked over the list again and then turned to Anu, "You're sure this is everything?"

"Far as our inventory and mine go, yes." He motioned to Sybil, "Could I have your help over here?"

Sybil ducked away and Anna finally faced John, "Sorry about all that. Bit of a show wasn't it?"

"It's something." John gestured for them to leave the ward. "Then it's been as rough for you as it has for me where Robert's concerned?"

"Probably a bit more for you since you're actually dealing with the fallout and I'm just on the sidelines." Anna tucked the list into her pocket. "The difficulty is the weight of options. I don't want to see this business or any of the surrounding area fall to the unethical and borderline immoral practices of Carlisle and Bricker but I also don't want to poison the local population in my attempt to stop them."

"Bit like burning your own town to stop your enemies taking it."

"I'm not a scorched earth politician myself." Anna sighed, "But I've got to go into town and I think you had another reason for actually being here."

"I did but it was to ask if you wanted to accompany me into town." John shrugged, "I've got some errands to run and I could use some time away from the office and the compound since Robert's ordered Carson not to give me anything to do."

"Afraid you'll sabotage it?"

"It's not an unreasonable belief, in a way."

"It's completely out of character for you."

"It's Robert's character that worries me." John shook his head, "He's wrestling with his conscience, because he does have one, and it's weighing on him to think he might be the cause of suffering either way."

"It's a difficult game to play when everyone might lose anyway." Anna pointed to the stairs, "If you don't mind the list of errands I have to run as well I think we could do one another the favor of being our own escorts."

"I like the sound of that." John followed Anna down the steps and they climbed into her jeep. "Though I've been curious about something."

"What's that?" Ana started the vehicle and steered it out of the compound.

"Is Mr. Singh avoiding me because I know what he is now?"

"He's a little miffed I told you but he was more shocked I told you what I was." Anna steered them over the road. "It's a heavily guarded secret in my family."

"It goes beyond your mother?"

"Her family arrived with my grandmother, who was an apothecary by trade with some past interactions with the voodoo beliefs of the Caribbean colonies blended not so soundly with their Catholic religion." Anna slowed the car to allow for a herd to pass over the road. "When she came here, working for another family, she immersed herself in the culture. There was even a rumor she went through an intense process to become one with the tribes."

"Did she?"

"I don't think so. It's not something you can do and it's most just a rumor white people tell one another to maintain their superiority." Anna shook her head, "My grandmother, by all accounts, was an intelligent woman who wanted to discover more about the world."

"How'd she die?"

"Childbirth, actually. Delivering my mother's brother." Anna shrugged, "He moved back to Belgium first chance he had and I've never met him. We think he probably died in the Great War but no one knows."

"And your mother?"

"She was partially raised by the native women who worked the house with my grandmother. They're the ones who trained her like they had my grandmother and made sure she got the training that mixed their local tradition with Western medicine." Anna pushed the pedal to set the car moving forward again. "It's not a long tradition but it is a secret one and other than Anu you're the only one who knows about it."

"And Mr. Green." Anna almost turned to John but forced her focus to the tricky road. "He knew enough to ask about it."

"He didn't understand it."

"But he is who Sybil was talking about earlier, yes?"

"Yes." Anna took a breath, "He's apparently woken from his insanity."

"Can someone do that?"

Anna shrugged, "Having no experience sending someone to insanity by way of voodoo and witchcraft I can't say and there's no precedent for it."

John squirmed, "How do you feel about it?"

"I should be happy he's not drooling into a pillow but…"

"You're not."

"Something about his sudden awakening when's been in their care a year with no change doesn't feel right." Anna paused, "something about it just doesn't sit right in the order of things."

"Order of things?"

"As someone who uses voodoo I've got a connection to the natural world and this leaves a taste in my mouth like… like you licked a lightning bolt."

John chuckled, "I can't say I've ever done that."

"I guess you'd have to work with voodoo to know the feeling." Anna pulled onto the main road, "I know, it's like the taste of gunpowder in your mouth."

"I know that taste a bit too well." John sat back in the seat, "Maybe there's voodoo involved in the solution the way it was in the problem."

"You think so?"

"It's the only possible answer I have." John shook his head as they parked, "What else could do it?"

"They're making great strides in modern psychiatry but I don't really know." Anna sat in the jeep, staring at the wheel. "It's possible it could be another person with access to voodoo but I doubt it."

"Are there other… practitioners, around?"

Anna contained her snort, "You can call us witches, it's not offensive."

"Even the men?"

"They're usually shamans but I haven't met any. In truth, I've not met many of my kind anywhere I've traveled. I only knew my mother and one of the village women, who picked up where my mother left off in my training, as my teachers." Anna sighed, "It's a dying art really and so it might be that within a generation I could be the last of my kind."

"But you've never met anyone else?"

Anna shook her head, "We don't hold conferences or anything. It's a rather secret practice and we tend to keep it to ourselves because it can be used… for lack of a more adequate term, evil. We're supposed to balance the force of nature, keep life moving on the right path, and maintain the energies of the universe but there are some who might use it for personal gain."

She noticed John's face before he spoke, "Like your mother?"

"She paid her price for her misuse of our skill." Anna confirmed and opened the door. "As for others, I've only heard rumors of what they call the Shadow Men or the Shadow People. They're those who've made deals with the… less kind of the voodoo deities and now serve their purposes in seeking to bring souls to eternal damnation."

"Really?"

"Really," Anna nodded, leading John up the street toward Mrs. Hughes's shop. "They're not spoken of the same way Jewish people tend to turn phrases for ironic use to prevent the evil of the object coming after them."

"Speak his name and the devil will appear, and all that."

"And all that." Anna stopped, her foot on the bottom step of Mrs. Hughes's shop. "May I ask you something rather… personal?"

"That seems entirely appropriate given the way you've treated my interrogation of your personal life." John opened his hands at her, "Ask away."

"How are you feeling now that you're no longer tethered to that woman?"

"Freer than I've ever been. There's no longer this weight hanging over me." John checked over his shoulder, "Would you mind if I met you back here? There are some things I need to get and-"

"Go on. I might be awhile discussing herbal remedies with Mrs. Hughes and we've both got other responsibilities." Anna waved him off, "I won't leave without you, I promise."

"Because," John bit at his lip, "I want to go with you if you do go to the hospital."

Anna stepped down, staring up at John. "Any particular reason?"

"It's not for a peek at what happens or anything," John assured her as quickly as he could, "It's more… something about this doesn't sit well with me either and I feel… protective of you."

"Protective?"

"I know you're more than capable of caring for yourself and I don't want to assume anything else but I can't… it's an instinct and I don't-"

"I'm not offended by your offer, Mr. Bates, in either respect." Anna shrugged, "I'm actually rather flattered."

"You are?"

Anna laughed at his surprise. "I may be a bit of a… tempest, Mr. Bates, but I'm also a subject of nature. That means that I respond to flattery and charm, both of which you have in healthy supply."

"Then you don't find me intrusive or a particularly repulsive reminder of your father?"

"You've gone above and beyond to prove to me, without even meaning to in some cases, that you are not my father." Anna put a hand on her arm, "I guess the issue between us comes down to my actions and they're rather… repulsive nature."

"Self-defense is a technique with which I'm very familiar." John covered her hand with his. "And I'll be back shortly."

"I look forward to it." Anna turned to go into the herbalist dispensary.

* * *

John held the small package in his hands, turning it over and over as he leaned against the jeep. The door behind him closed and John spun so quickly he almost dropped it. Catching it by the tip of the fabric, John held it up to Anna as she emerged, tucking her purchases into the jeep.

"I hope it's not too forward."

"What is it?"

"I'm Catholic and while I haven't practiced it the way I should, I thought you might appreciate this."

Anna took it from his hands and unwrapped the fabric. Inside was a silver chain dangling a small medal. She took it in her fingers to study it more closely and John cleared his throat.

"It's Luke, the Evangelist. Patron saint-"

"Of doctors and healers." Anna unclasped it and pulled the necklace up to clasp around her neck. "My attending at University had one of these."

"If it's too-"

"It's perfect, Mr. Bates." Anna touched the medal to her chest and then tucked it away. "I'm just curious what I did to deserve something like this."

"It's a way I can feel, in the smallest bit, like I might've done something to protect you in what's to come." John pointed between the jeep and the street. "Do we walk or-"

"It's a bit of a drive because while the hospital's technically in town it's not 'in town' if you understand my meaning." Anna opened her door and waited for John to join her. "They want to keep the infected and the insane away from people."

"I'd agree with that assessment."

They drove a short way, closer to the coast, and John blinked at the sight of the fenced compound with a house larger than Robert's. He could see white-dressed nurses and attendings milling around in the yard outside the building and was prepared for the gates to open for them as they did at the Crawley compound. Instead, Anna parked the car and motioned him toward a smaller door set in the side of the fence.

There a guard, holding a baton at his hip, checked both of them for weapons or any kind of implements before waving them through. Anna guided John over the large yard, past the patients in wheeled chairs or being escorted by nurses, and into the foyer of the building. Large fans beat the air above them and Anna left John in the middle of the floor to speak to the man behind the desk.

"Excuse me," John turned as a woman with a rather severe looking face and hair held tightly back from her head, approached him. "We're not taking visitors or peepers."

"I'm not-" John pointed with a finger to his chest and turned toward Anna.

"He's with me, Ms. O'Brien." Anna walked back over, "Nurse Crawley told me today that Mr. Green had been asking after me. Said he woke up from his catatonic state and requested me."

"He did." Ms. O'Brien gave John another sour expression before facing Anna. "He took a turn for the better and is now speaking in full sentences."

"What's the doctor's recommendation?"

"They're hoping you can help him regain some of his memory."

"He's amnesiatic?"

"It's what he says. He's struggling to put events together. He knows a few things, the basics of his identity and the like, and he remembers the bigger items of his life but otherwise he's a bit… fuzzy, is the term I'd use for it."

"Is he properly restrained?"

"Since he's not flopping and flailing around on the bed they've let him sleep without restraints but I can have him jacketed before you go in, if that'd make you feel safer."

"I think it's wise, given his reaction on our last encounter." Anna nodded toward the stairs, "Shall we?"

The trio moved through the white and beige halls, John occasionally dodging chairs and people with their heads pressed to walls. Noises from some of the rooms made him jump and he tried to keep pace with Anna and Ms. O'Brien to avoid being caught alone in an unfamiliar place.

They reached a room and Ms. O'Brien snapped her fingers. Two native men in white uniforms jogged down the hall. "I need a straight jacket for Mr. Green and I need you to apply it quickly."

"Yes ma'am." They hurried away and were back within moments with a straightjacket in their hands.

John blanched at the sight of the buckles and the too-long sleeves. Ms. O'Brien caught his look and shook her head, "It stops them hurting themselves and anyone else and it's no more painful than a hug."

"It's imprisonment."

"We imprison criminals and dangerous people, sir. The patients here can be no less violent and some of them can be even more dangerous. For the safety of those who would see them cured and those who try to cure them we must take measures." Ms. O'Brien looked at Anna, "Is it his first time in an institution?"

"You'd have to ask him that." Anna stepped to the side as the men emerged from the room and nodded at Ms. O'Brien. "Do you mind if we go in?"

"Be my guest but know that you've only fifteen minutes until visiting hours end and we've got a strict policy."

"Noted." Anna motioned John forward and they entered the room.

Bars covered the windows but light engulfed the room. Another fan beat a steady tattoo from the ceiling and of the two beds in the room only one was full. The man that sat there, hunched over in the jacket that tied his arms to his sides, turned to look at them.

"Doctor Smith and…" He squinted at John, "Friend?"

"Mr. Bates is the new manager and he's agreed to accompany me today." Anna took one of the chairs in the room, keeping a safe distance from the man who, John noticed, had a strap attaching his jacket to the bed to tether him there. "They told me you were getting better, Mr. Green, and I wanted to see you on the road to recovery."

"Since it's your fault I'm here?" Anna frowned as Green shook his head, "I'm not sure of anything anymore but I do know only the guilty or the concerned come to someone in my position and since you're not concerned you must be guilty."

"What an observation." Anna breathed with a sarcastic note to it, "Imagine what it must be like to assume I'd only come if I felt guilty."

"Do you?"

"No," Anna shook her head. "I'm not psychiatrist but I hope they've given you one to consult in your recovery."

"My head is fine."

"They say you're forgetting necessary details of your own life, Mr. Green. That sounds like the opposite of 'fine' to me." Anna folded her arms over her chest. "They also say you started coming around a month ago. Tell me about that."

"So you can put me back out again?"

"Whatever you think you know about what happened, Mr. Green, you don't." Anna snapped at him, the blood rising in her cheeks. "What happened to you was your own fault when you played with powers you don't understand and treated them lightly. You suffered the consequences of your own actions and I'm here to certify, as your doctor and the consultant for the company, that you're well enough to be transferred to Bethlehem Royal Hospital in London to seek the treatment you need to set your mind and body right again."

"You care so much for me?"

"I care for the job I do and the responsibilities I have to it." Anna took a deep breath, eyes flicking to John for a moment, "Now, what do you remember?"

John stepped forward and Green jerked his head up to point, struggling in a moment to do it with his hands until he realized they were secured to his sides. "Does he know what you do?"

"Mr. Bates is versed enough for the conversation we're about to have for you to be candid and honest."

Green snorted, "No one knows enough about this. No one knows enough to accept that you play with dark powers."

"What I do is no more dark than any other religion."

"Other religions don't enter your mind and break it."

"From what I understand you lied about your intentions to get someone into your mind and didn't obey the instructions." John voiced, digging his nails in his palm as he clenched his fist. "You buggered up the orders and you got buggered in return. It's a simple calculation."

Green turned to John again, "What do you know about it?"

"I know I followed the instructions and my mind was cleared." John stayed by the wall, held there with a quick look from Anna. "Whatever got you landed here was your own doing."

"Was it now?" Green faced Anna, a disgustingly unsettling smile coming over his mouth. "And what did I do?"

"We're done here." Anna stood, "You're well enough, physically, for the transfer and once I confer with your psychiatrist I'm sure we'll know you're well enough for a transfer to Doctor Seward's ward at Bedlam."

"You're just trying to get rid of me," Green strained against the tether, clinking it against the bed and giving John reason to jump a bit. "You think you can send me off and no one will believe what I tell them about you?"

"No one will and even if they did I've nothing to hide." Anna shrugged, "Tell them what you want. You're an unreliable sources now."

"Anna!" He strained and John paused in the doorway, looking back at Green while Anna kept her gaze stoically forward. "I told you how I felt about you. I wanted you to see it for yourself. Don't punish me for how I feel."

Anna kept her head high and left the room. John risked a look back at Green but only met a nasty scowl. He stepped to the side and Ms. O'Brien closed the door.

"I'll guess that his accusations are false?"

"His injuries were consistent with a fall into the rapids of the river. His mental state, when I treated him, displayed similar erratic behaviors and I did attempt to treat him with herbal remedies and strict instructions not to mix it with alcohol. He did not abide by those instructions and drove himself to leap into the river." Anna shook her head, "If you've the paperwork I'd like to recommend his immediate transfer to Bethlehem Hospital. He needs their treatment."

"Doctor'll sign off on it when he gets back in the morning but we'll take your signature now." Ms. O'Brien led them down the hall, risking a glance back at John. "But you took her herbal remedy?"

"I did." John nodded, entering the conversation again, his mind spinning a bit. "It helped me with night terrors."

"We've got patients that suffer those, among other things." Ms. O'Brien waved the two attendants back to Green's room and reached for the paperwork. "But they've also got other afflictions and so it's difficult to tell exactly what we're to do about them when their minds are all balls of yarn."

"More like tangles I'd think." Anna took a pen and read over the information before signing. "And if the Doctor has any other questions he can contact me at the compound, same as always."

"Will do Doctor Smith." Ms. O'Brien took the papers back, filing them appropriately. "Mostly I'll be glad to be rid of him and his persistent friends."

John and Anna stopped. "Friends?"

"He's been having visitors pretty consistently since he came in. Two older gentlemen and a younger woman. She visits about once a week with this bag of concoctions that smell something fierce and they've visited a little less frequently but mostly seem interested in updates as to his health."

"When was the last time they visited?"

"About a month ago." Ms. O'Brien noted something on a form, "She was in and I was here, at the station, filing paperwork when I heard a little yelp of excitement. Mr. Green started getting more coherent after that and I wondered if whatever she was using had helped him come round."

"And the men?"

"They came around a week ago, when Mr. Green started working out how to put words back together. They've not been in again but they've got an appointment tomorrow."

"Do you know their names?"

"No," Ms. O'Brien shook her head. "And even if I did the visitor logs are confidential."

"Why did Doctor Foyle allow the woman and her bag in? I'd have thought he'd oppose alternative treatments."

"She said they were for her prayers." Ms. O'Brien shrugged, "If you've got other questions about them you'd best ask Doctor Foyle when he's in tomorrow."

"I might stop by." Anna nodded at Ms. O'Brien, "Thank you for letting us in. We'll show ourselves out."

Ms. O'Brien did not raise her head as the two left the compound. Anna got back into the car, tapping on the steering wheel a moment before starting it to drive back to their compound. John stayed silent as long as he could before speaking.

"I don't think I'm the only one who believes those two men were agents for Carlisle and Bricker's firm."

"I don't think they were agents." Anna bumped them along the rocky road, "I think they were Carlisle and Bricker themselves."

"Then you think they'd use whatever information Green has on Robert to try and sabotage the business?"

"I think Mr. Green used to work in that compound and since he's no longer the loyal worker, if he ever even was, then he's a potential target for their scheme." Anna banged her palm against the wheel. "It's the woman who worries me."

"Why?"

"Because of what you said earlier, about other practitioners." Anna shook her head, "I don't know of any but very few people who don't depend on herbal remedies and voodoo use bags of smelling concoctions."

"I'm not sure I've met anyone that calls them 'concoctions' anymore."

Anna snorted her laugh, "It is a bit antiquated isn't it?"

"It is." They were quiet a moment, "What do we tell Robert?"

"If he's already taking meetings with Carlisle and Bricker then they've got something he wants or they've got something they'll use." Anna shivered, "I don't want to think what they could've dug up on the Crawley family."

"How far would they have to dig?"

"Depends on which daughter." Anna ticked off on her fingers, holding them out from the wheel as she did so. "They'll never find anything on Sybil but they might on her husband, Tom. He's been involved in some borderline anarchist movements and supports Irish independence to the point of possible anarchy against England. The company wouldn't like that getting out."

"Mary and Matthew?"

"Matthew's as clean as Sybil and about as untouchable. Mary, on the other hand… has had a few mishaps of her own. There was a little event with a Turkish speculator a few years ago that could be damaging and another indiscretion that may or may not include the good Doctor Foyle. It would damage his reputation here and possibly his marriage."

"Was he married when-"

"No," Anna shook her head, "Mary's a great many things but an adulteress isn't one of them."

"What about Robert's second daughter, Edith?"

"She's married in England but she did have an illegitimate daughter from a former relationship. They could find issue with that but since her husband adopted the child they won't have a scandal for it."

"Then what does Green know about the mine or its operations that would prove fatal to the Crawleys?"

Anna stopped outside the gates, waiting for them to open. "He might know about the poison leeching from the mine."

"How?"

"He had a bad habit of lurking in corners and listening at doorways." Anna shook her head, "Anu and I weren't as careful in our earlier suppositions as we were later. He's why."

"If Carlisle and Bricker are going to be doing the same thing then knowing what the mine's doing won't change anything. It's not something Robert could-"

"If they tell the company they've a plan to prevent possible fallout then they'll steal the contract out from under the Crawleys." Anna parked the jeep and John noticed the dimness around them as the sun raced to set.

"I'm sure I speak for both of us when I say I don't want them to lose what they've built here."

"You're not." Anna assured him, taking her things from the jeep. "But if Mr. Crawley won't listen to us-"

"We'll have to trust his reason and his heart'll win out over his stubbornness." John climbed out of the jeep and took a breath, "This might be proposition too far on my part but since I don't feel like eating in the canteen and I've not gotten another invitation to dine with the Crawleys, would you mind sharing dinner at mine?"

Anna paused, "I haven't had a proposition like that in some time."

"Is it a welcome proposition?"

"Considering I'm still speaking to you, yes it is." Anna chewed on her lip. "I'd love the opportunity to have a dinner with you, Mr. Bates, that didn't end in me running into the jungle or you having to claim you were bit by something."

"We've have a run of bad luck in that haven't we?"

"We've been… less than our best I think." Anna motioned to her things, "Give me an hour to get this all settled and perhaps changed into something a bit nicer and I'll be right over."

John nodded, "Suits me."

"Then it's a date, Mr. Bates."

"Yes it is." John watched her go before practically sprinting up the stairs to his rooms.

The preparation process was both an eternity and a moment. Two of the men helped him get a table and two chairs into the space before managing the simple fare he wanted for the meal. His own washing regime sluiced cold water over him but John could finally comb his hair back with something other than sweat and when he dressed he felt ready for it.

At least, until he opened the door.

Anna stood there in a simple blue dress but he had only ever seen her in trousers and working clothes she took to the jungle or on her rounds. Sleeves no longer covered her arms and her legs seemed to stretch forever when exposed. John tried to move his jaw, tried to work the dryness from his mouth, tried to speak but everything about his body seemed stunned so he could operate no more complex function than just to look at her.

"Well, Mr. Bates," She managed a small curtsey, "Will I do?"

"I think," He coughed to clear his throat, "You'll do just fine."


	11. Superstition

Anna put down her glass and shook her head, "That was perhaps the simplest and best meal I've ever shared with a man."

"I'm curious if the others simply tried too hard or they weren't trying hard enough."

"Probably a bit of both." Anna sat back in her chair. "I actually had an interesting interaction with one of those men today."

"May I ask who?"

"Wasimbu, my former fiancé… if I can call him that." Anna circled the bottom of her glass with her finger. "I was so sure he was the only man I ever wanted to marry. So sure we could combat his parents' hesitancy and the disapproval of his village but when push came to shove we couldn't."

"Why not?"

Anna shrugged, "Today he made a suggestion that he should've fought harder for me but having seen his life, seen what's expected of him, I know I could never be that. As much as I love Wasimbu, less now than I did then, I could never be his wife and it took not being his wife to see that."

"I think being a husband told me I wasn't any good at being a husband."

Anna stopped in her tactile investigation of her glass to meet John's eyes. "We both know that's not true."

"In a way it's not and in a way it is." John pushed back a bit from the table as well, stretching an arm to tap his fingers against the wood. "What you saw was when I wanted it to work but you didn't see when I ran away from it. I wasn't always the man my wife needed me to be and no one should have to wait that long for someone to come around."

"Did you want to 'come round'?"

John nodded, "At first. But once I realized I'd already destroyed the foundation you know you can't build there. It's… it's not a kind thing to admit but we're all flawed and I think, sometimes, the best thing to do isn't to save something but to let it die so something else can take its place."

"Would you think your wife… or ex-wife, I should say, thought the same?"

"For her it was the devil you know. Cheating on me while knowing I was there for whenever she returned was safety and security. Some animals'll eat poisonous things if they believe it's better than starvation. And we found a kind of… toxic energy with one another. It fed the darkest parts of ourselves but it fed us and sometimes you can't tell the sand from water in a mirage and then you drink it."

"Better than believing it's better to die alone than live unhappily for a single moment." Anna sighed, "But I guess we all prefer the devils we know to the ones we don't."

"Familiarity is the enemy of growth, as they say."

"Do they say that?" Anna smiled at him before craning her head to look around the room. "I grew up for a time in this room."

"I forgot." John took stock of it. "Was it all the castles and palaces and pirate ships you imagined?"

"It was something else I think."

"What?"

"A hope my mother had." Anna pushed back from the borrowed table and walked to the doors that led to the balcony on the back of the house. She then paced the room to the bed, around to the desk that faced the windows looking in on the compound, and then back toward the table. "She wanted this to be my home forever."

"And then?"

"And then I grew up in the Crawley nursery, had a room with the others girls there, and made my home in the field hospital just there." Anna pointed through the wall. "This was never home for me."

"Do you wish it was?"

"No," Anna pointed toward the bed, "I was born on that bed. Or, on a bed that used to be in that space. They've replaced it since I came wailing into the world but it's the same spot."

John stayed quiet as Anna paced her way around the room.

"It's where my mother and my father were together for the first time. That desk, or the incarnation that used to be there, was where he penned her all the letters he only meant when the jungle fogged his brain. Those doors lead out onto the balcony where they swayed to music that came from the Crawley house so they could dance. And this floor," Anna knocked a heel of her sandaled foot against it. "This floor bore the weight of all the men who loaded my father onto a stretcher to take him away from me the last time I saw him."

She hugged her arms over her chest but did not shiver. John, however, stood anyway, and drew a light sheet from the bed to offer her. Anna took it over her shoulders with a small smile. "There's so much about this room that I've hated for so long. So many mistakes and painful memories happened here. Sometimes I feel that if I reached out a hand far enough I could touch."

"Then," John moved around her, standing in front of her, "Might I suggest we make a nicer memory here?"

Anna lifted her head to meet his eyes. "Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why do you want to make any memories at all with me? I treated you horribly when we first met, I wasn't kind to you, and I'm not at all the kind of person you could ever introduce to your mother."

"Because," John took the back of a finger and moved some of her loose hair over her shoulder, sending a shiver through her. "You're honest, you're intelligent, and you've trusted me. You saved my life, you never lied to me, and when I needed someone to help me you gave no thought for yourself but gave to me. And I would introduce you to my mother because she would like you."

"I'm sure my mother would've liked you too.'

"The mother that came with a nursing brigade?"

"The mother that loved the man who lived in this room even though she shouldn't have." Anna put her hand over John's when it moved to her cheek. "The mother who lost her own mother to childbirth. The mother who made a mistake so large it cost her life."

"I won't ask that of you Anna." He whispered, their mouths almost touching.

"I know you won't." Anna tipped forward as his other hand came to cup her other cheek and her free hand settled on the line of buttons at his chest.

His lips touched hers and a thrill ran through her body. It was like the comfort of water mixed with the electric thrill of energy like a rainstorm. And, as if cued by her thoughts, she heard a crack of thunder from outside.

They separated and John blinked at her. "I hope that wasn't you."

"I can't cause that kind of change to nature." Anna smiled at him, her fingers feeling at his chest through his shirt. "Nature obeys its own laws and I abide by them, not the other way around."

"Then," John lowered his head again, "What law would nature say we should obey now?"

"The one older than time."

Anna tightened her fingers to cling to his shirt when his mouth came down on hers again. They moved faster now, having stepped off the trepidatious edge into the gulf below. It held fire and crashing water and thunder and every force of nature waiting to rend the unwary while forging the strong. And Anna pushed into the unknown while pulling John with her.

The size of the room proved a boon to their efforts when the back of Anna's legs hit the bed. John's hands sculpted over her body as he traced the edges of her lips with his tongue. She dug her fingers into his shirt before pulling it apart one button at a time. When his cuffs gave her a bit of difficulty he only broke for a moment to help her remove the material from his body.

Running her hands over him, Anna reveled in the feel of his mouth returning to hers. They maneuvered, almost tripping themselves, and Anna sat back on the bed. John maneuvered next to her and they leaned sideways toward one another.

But instead of returning to kissing Anna's lips, John kissed over her neck, using a gentle hand at the other side to hold her in place. She sighed into the motion, one of her hands holding tightly to his shoulder to give her purchase, while her other hand worked down his side. They both reached the next hurdle of their clothing at the same moment and paused long enough to move. Anna's dress soon fluttered to make a pool at her feet and John's trousers hit with a slightly more defining thud when his buckle hit the wood.

That stopped them. They looked at one another, Anna standing before the massive wall of John's exposed skin, and then reached out. Her hand worked to feel over him, tracing with lips and tongue while her fingers danced to the half-muted groans he wrangled from his throat. His hands gently glided through her hair, relaxing her until all Anna could do was rest her forehead against John and sigh.

His fingers stopped at the catches for her brassiere and Anna helped him remove it. Even in the half-light from the lamps, Anna could see the darkness in John's eyes. The tremor in his hand sparked her own nerves and then her excitement when he held the weight of her breasts in his palm before massaging the skin there. Her own fingers gripped for a hold at the waistband of his pants and she held fast there to give her a support as the sensations rippling through her threatened to topple her to the floor.

Before they could land in an unceremonious heap, John guided them back down to his bed. It creaked and moaned but their mouths met again and Anna had no time to care about the noise. All that mattered was the rub of John's body against her, the feel of his skin under her hands, and the fingers kneading her to tingling heights of sensory pleasure.

When John broke the kiss this time Anna keened out her disapproval. But John moved ahead of her, working his lips and tongue over her throat and down to her collarbones. He traced every crevice of bone, skin, and muscles until he reached where his hands already proved their worth. Anna wondered, in the split second she had to contemplate it, that perhaps his hands on her body was the best experience she ever had. As his lips kissed, licked, and then sucked at her breasts she amended her statement.

Anna cried out when he teethed a nipple before suckling at her. His hands continued their slide down her body and it was all Anna could do to open her legs and allow John a place between them. The movement of his body against hers, the gyrating rub through the two layers of fabric left to them left Anna floating higher and burning hotter than she ever had before.

The sounds of the jungle, the insects and animals and the rush of the river close by filled her soul while the sounds she and John made together filled her ears. Sweat, ever present, beaded and slid over their bodies to slide and stick when they tried to move. John worked past it, maneuvering over and around to place his fingers at the line of her knickers.

A pause in his motions forced Anna's head from its thrown back position to wallow in the pleasure of his ministrations, her fingers clinging to the pillow, to look him in the eye. They required no words and Anna lifted her hips to tell him what she wanted. Perhaps, if she could admit it to even herself, what she needed. He worked the material from her glistening skin and worked his own pants away with a touch of difficulty before settling back between her legs.

Another creak of the bed had them both giggling slightly but the next moment had Anna's fingers clutching at anything she could reach. Sheets, pillow, skin, bone, anything to give her a hold to the natural world as John's fingers quested between her legs. If anything it was all Anna could do to open wider for him.

Her whimper halted John's progress and he raised his head to her ear. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine." She assured him, trying to open her eyes enough to see him, to assure him with whatever comfort that simple motion could provide. "I'm with you."

"Have you-"

"This isn't my first time." Anna's fingers traced over his cheek, "But it's my first time for anything like this."

"If you want I can-"

"Please don't stop." She lifted her hips, sliding his fingers through her folds to leave them both whimpering and moaning in turn. "I just… I need to feel this."

John responded with fervor. His lips on hers echoed the wet glide of his fingers through her folds. And when he breached her with his finger Anna dug her nails into his shoulder. There was nothing else to do but hook her leg over his hip and open herself wider as he continued to search her out.

In the half-light of the room, Anna traced John's body. Her hands followed the contorting muscles and the tightening skin. Their bodies stuck with the sweat gathered not only by their exertions but also by the heat and the pressing humidity that threatened to cover them like an unnecessary blanket.

But they pushed forward and when John crooked his fingers inside her, sliding forward to apply pressure with his thumb while his lips returned to their earlier adorations of her breasts, Anna broke. In her amateur attempts to bring herself over the edge, or seek that sweet release in the company of men, Anna had only ever been disappointed. With John, however, it was everything all the most optimistic euphemisms said it could be.

She lay back, panting, and her hand slipped from his body. As it happened, John used that moment to turn and she felt him. John stuttered in place, strangling a grunt but Anna responded by tightening her grip. Her fingers caressed and traced the skin that would offer such pleasure to her if his fingers and his mouth could. A pleasure she signaled her readiness to enjoy when her other leg pulled at his waist to bring him to her entrance.

Again their eyes met and Anna rubbed herself along his length, sending his head to hang down and hers to arch back at the neck, to signal. In a few steady thrusts he buried himself inside her and dropped his forehead to rest on her shoulder as he sought for breath in the choking heat and the suffocating humidity. It was all they could do to even attempt air.

The thunder in the distance, the signal of rain, set the air shimmering with electric haze that would only dissipate in the coming rain. For now it was all Anna needed to gain the strength to lift her hips toward John's. She struck her sensitive nerves against his pubic bone and it led her to release a groan from the depths of her soul. A moan John reciprocated when he drew to the very edge of her tight, wet channel to thrust back in.

Soon they moved. Like all the animals and villagers Anna had ever seen practicing the oldest of creation's traditions. This was not the perfunctory regeneration of the species by reproduction. This was seeking pleasure through the sharing of souls by the actions of the body.

Anna tightened her inner muscles and tried to hold John in place as his pace increased. He took her hands, almost clawing at his back, and held them above her head, while his free hand worked between them to strike where she wanted him most. Tightening her legs and bringing them closer to her body she opened herself up to send him deeper. Perhaps deep enough to touch her soul.

Again, she came in a sparking of color behind her eyes. In the haze of her aftermath she sensed John finish by the stutter of his body and then the release of all the tension in his muscles. His almost collapse slid him out of her enough to lay his head on her stomach.

They lay there, the lamps sputtering out as a flash of lightning lit the sky to bring the rain.

* * *

John opened his eyes, blinking in the darkness only broken by the occasional crack of lightning. He sat up, searching for Anna but she was nowhere in the room. Grabbing for his trousers and boots, only draping his shirt over his shoulders and doing up a few buttons to keep it from flapping open, John went outside.

Rain lashed the buildings and had John raising a hand to cover his eyes enough to see. One of the men running across the compound came near him and John called out. The man jogged toward John and they bent for temporary shelter under the protection of the stairs to John's raised room.

"Have you seen Doctor Smith?"

"She went into the jungle by the river sir." He pointed toward the open part of the compound leading to the compound's dock. "Came out about fifteen minutes go."

'Thank you." John nodded the man away and jogged toward the dock.

The roots and brush of the jungle floor proved slippery and more than once John flung out an arm to catch himself. When he reached the dock his hair plastered to his head and drained more water into his eyes. Rubbing furiously to try and clear his vision John caught sight of Anna facing the river.

She seemed completely unfazed by the weather, only glaring into the night in the light of a strike that hit in the distance. John wove his way toward her but she did not turn when he came to her side. Only his hand on her shoulder roused her from whatever contemplation would lead her here to soak her in the monsoon.

"What are you doing out here Anna?" He bellowed over the crash of the river and the pelting rain.

"Thinking." She responded, her dress stuck to her and molding so perfectly under the weight of water and the force of the drops John saw no trace of anything under it.

"Thinking about what?"

"About what I did." Anna turned to him, "I did as my mother did and I always told myself I would never succumb like she did."

"I'm not your father, Anna."

"But that place," Anna pointed up toward the room, "It is poison. Like the kind that leeches from the mine but this one leeches into my soul. It pains me to think that every time I walk into that room I will live two lives. The life that led my mother to kill herself for a man who didn't love her and the life that would offer me happiness I don't know if I deserve."

"Why would you not deserve it?" John tried to wipe more water from his eyes. "Who told you happiness belongs to everyone else but you?"

"The balance of nature." Anna raised her hand toward the rain, "I was wrong when I said I could not control nature."

"What does that mean?"

"This," Anna pointed toward the sky, "This is what I brought."

John blinked, partially in surprise and partially to clear more rain from his eyes. "Then let's relish in it and ravish one another in it."

"It's destructive."

"It's regenerative." John approached her and Anna stepped back, her back hitting a tree. "We're regenerative. We're a new generation and we won't make the mistakes of your parents."

"We're not perfect John."

"No," He shook his head, hand coming to her side and slipping over the damp material that bunched and folded with the weight of the water soaking there. "We'll make our own mistakes and we'll have to realize what we've done. But we won't make their mistakes because I'm not leaving you Anna. Never and for no one."

"You can't mean that." She argued as his other hand held her face. "No one has ever meant that."

"I do." He brushed his lips over her skin, tasting the sweat and the rain and whatever flavor he was sure belonged entirely and only to her. "Trust me."

"I don't know how." Her forehead slipped past his chin to rest on his shoulder, her fingers scrunching the sleeves of his shirt.

"One day at a time." John pushed soaking hair from her face. "I'll be here for you every day. I promise that and I'll renew that promise every day."

Anna tugged, her grip on his sleeves enough to almost topple him forward, and their lips met again. In the crash of lightning and the rumbles of thunder their mouths tried to dominate one another, seeking submission that would never come until both found the middle ground. The middle ground that pressed Anna back against the tree and had John lifting her.

Her legs wrapped around him, holding fast despite the water rushing down around them and their clothes meshing and bunching against one another. John sought her mouth again but Anna took his neck, kissing away the water there while sucking and marking him with nips of her teeth. He groaned and pressed forward, his wet trousers tangling with her soaking dress not enough to stop Anna groaning at the heat of him pressing forward to take her again.

The dress dangled around John's hands as he slid up her thighs to wrap the material to Anna's waist with its weight and the wetness. His fingers sought another wetness, one now open to him as Anna gripped tighter with her legs. Stepping forward, John pressed himself as close to Anna as he could and forced her head back from his neck when he drove his fingers deep inside her.

If he needed proof Anna controlled the storm around them, the jagged streak of lightning and struck to illuminate her face and the increase in the downpour was enough to do it for him. She rocked against his hand, moaning and crying out as he altered speed, direction, and pressure until her body shook around him. And the satisfaction on his face received its own reward when Anna used a hand clamped at the back of his neck to bring him to her lips again before her other hand fumbled with his loose trousers.

They opened only as much as she needed them to so her hand could grasp him. She learned him quickly, perhaps more quickly than she wanted but the rain did not affect the heat about them. Instead, the rain only made it worse.

John lowered his head to take hold of her breast through the dress, his hand at her hips keeping her steady as he bucked and rutted in her grip. She shrieked and for the moment she released her hold. It was the only moment John needed to drive forward and bury himself in her again, to soothe the rush of his own blood crying out to join with hers.

Thunder boomed around them, deafening John to all but Anna's continuing cries as his ruthless pace responded to the answer of nature. Responded to something thrumming though is blood the way battle used to. Responding to what John suspected was a call by the ancient gods worshipped here to give a sacrifice. A sacrifice he wanted to give to Anna.

Anna pushed back on him and dropped her legs. John, confused, stumbled back, but Anna wrapped her hands on his wrists. She tugged him to the ground and paid him back, straddling him like she would mount a horse, and sank down. John's head hit the muddy ground, water pooling dirty and refreshing in the same token around him, and he craned his hips up to drive into Anna.

But she controlled it now. In his room, in his bed, it was John who led the chase for pleasure. John who made her cry out and grappled to bring them both to the edge together. Here, in her domain, in nature where the women called the rain, governed creation, and knew the secrets of the earth, she held the power.

The moment John realized this their eyes met. He watched her eyes flash in the light as she pulled her dress over her head. There, with his clothing soaked and sticking to him and she naked as the day she was born, John knew who held the power between them. And he did not feel afraid.

Leaning back, Anna rode him as proficiently as a jockey with her stallion. Her hands grabbed his, like he had earlier, and guided them over her body. She chased her own pleasure without reservation or hindrance, the earlier fears lost in recognition of her preferred element. And when she came again, she deigned to bring him with her.

The rain eased slightly as they finished, washing them both clean as Anna helped John to stand and found her dress in the mud. John removed his shirt instead, wrapping it around her enough to cover most of her body, and nodded back toward the compound. But Anna stopped him for a moment, intertwining their hands.

"After today we can't leave one another."

"I wouldn't leave you."

"It's more than that," Anna pointed to the ground, "You're bound to me now. We're bound to each other and nothing can separate us now."

"Are you saying we're not married in the eyes of the jungle?"

"It's more like being mated in the eyes of nature but terms change with time." Anna guided him back to the compound and pointed up to their respective places. "I think we both need a bit more washing a good night's sleep."

"I agree." John dipped down, kissing her. "And one day, perhaps soon, I plan to make us married in the eyes of man as well."

"I'll hold you to that Mr. Bates." Anna grinned and held his shirt tight about herself to run up to her field hospital.


	12. The Man I'm Going to Marry

Anna came from her room and saw Anu giving her a self-satisfied smirk from his desk, "What?"

"Don't think I didn't notice how late you came in, your state of arrival, and what you were wearing."

"And don't think I care." She took her seat at her desk, "What I chose to do and with whom I choose to do it are none of your concern."

"It might be my concern in nine months time."

Anna glared at him, "I don't appreciate your cheek."

"You don't have to. You appreciated Mr. Bates's last night." Anu snorted, failing to hide his grin.

"If you've anything else to say about it, it's best you do so now while I'm in a mood to listen."

"I heard you call the rain and I know what that lightning meant." Anu paused, "Though I'm more impressed than I've ever been."

"Why's that?"

"Your mother could never call the elements like that. Even when she thought she found love she couldn't even bring a summer rain." Anu tapped on the edge of Anna's desk. "What you can do, it's beyond what I've seen a practitioner do before."

"Have you ever done it?"

"I'm in a different class so it's not really a subject for comparison." Anu winked, "It wouldn't be fair."

"I guess we all need our secrets to pretend we're mysterious." Anna noted a slip of paper on her desk and read it quickly. "What appointments do we have today?"

"None that I know of." Anu consulted his schedule. "There's a surgery you wanted for tomorrow but I think you were trying to get that at the hospital."

"Yes," Anna gathered a few things. "I've got to see Doctor Foyle as quickly as possible so you and Sybil are on rounds."

"What's Doctor Foyle have for you?"

"Details on who's been visiting Green." Anna stopped, "I've never asked, but do you know of anyone else, in the area, who can do what I do?"

Anu sucked the insides of his cheeks before shaking his head. "I've never met anyone and I've not heard any rumors about any other witches." He frowned, "Why do you ask?"

"I think Green's been seen by one because he started coming out of that coma a month ago and he's almost fully functional again."

Anu clutched at his pen. "Is that what Sybil wanted yesterday?"

Anna nodded. "She didn't know the whys or the wherefors but yes."

"Did anyone at the hospital see who did it?"

"Ms. O'Brien said it was a woman but I don't know any other witches."

"A native woman?"

Anna shook her head, "All she knew was the woman carried a bag of foul smelling something and if it was a native woman she would've done something about it."

"The only time prejudice might've been helpful." Anna made a face and Anu corrected himself. "A poor joke, I admit, but if she'd been a bit more curious you might have a leg up in all of this."

"Perhaps." Anna shook her head, "All that matters, right now, is that I speak to Doctor Foyle about Mr. Green's visitors."

"And get them stopped so we can get him transferred as soon as possible." Anu whistled, "The longer he's here the more risk there is that his mind'll be fractured forever."

"And the clean air of London'll help him?"

"It'll set him straight." Anu waved a hand to explain, "He'll be back where he belongs and the power of his native land will heal his mind. Hopefully restore him. As long as he's here the land will fight him, try to drive him off."

"If that's the case then how did he even get better in the first place?"

"It'll be dark voodoo for that kind of reaction." Anu paled, as much as his complexion could manage. "To unbalance nature like that… it's a crime against nature itself."

"Then I need to make sure he's on a boat back to England tonight if there is one." Anna gathered what she needed, "If anyone comes, I'll be back later."

"Should I go with you?"

"If you come then there's no one for the ward." Anna shook her head, "I'll have Doctor Foyle to help me. I'll be fine."

She hurried down to her jeep, getting in and driving out of the compound almost too fast for the men to open the gates. The road bumped and jostled her all the way to the hospital but Anna parked and was inside before the sun could even reach an oppressive heat. And the surprise of the nurses did not stop her asking them to see Doctor Foyle.

In less than an hour from seeing the note, Anna sat on the other side of Doctor Foyle's desk, waiting for him as he hurried into the room. He fumbled with a few things, wringing her hand for a second by way of greeting, and taking the seat across from her. "I'm so sorry, Doctor Smith, I didn't know you were planning to make a visit today. Ms. O'Brien said you were just here yesterday."

"I needed to make sure you saw the forms I signed last night."

"I did and they're in process now. We're getting all the documentation from the company to get Mr. Green sent back to Bedlam as soon as possible." He paused, "But his rapid change in condition has me wondering if perhaps we made a mistake in his diagnosis."

"There was no mistake and his altered condition is precisely why I'm here." Anna leaned forward, "Ms. O'Brien indicated that Mr. Green's been receiving regular visits for the past few months from two men and, until about a month ago, visits from a female carrying some rather pungent chemicals."

Doctor Foyle shrugged, "I know that Mr. Green was entitled to visitors and the men went through all the regular checks and signed the forms."

"What names did they sign?"

"You know that's confidential information."

"Then what about the woman?" Anna tapped the desk with her finger. "I know for a fact you wouldn't allow anyone with herbal remedies or homeopathic solutions through those doors if you thought the might use them in place of your prescribed treatments."

Doctor Foyle frowned, "I haven't seen a woman visiting and if there's anything more pungent in her bag to the antiseptic we're using to clean the place then I should've been informed."

Anna paled, "No one told you?"

"Ms. O'Brien never mentioned it." Doctor Foyle stood, "And Green's been reticent in our sessions about visitors."

"You never asked him directly?"

"I didn't feel it relevant when he was struggling to remember details from his own past." Doctor Foyle put a hand through his hair. "If someone's tampered with him-"

"I'd like to request we go and see him this minute, Doctor."

"Agreed."

The two of them went down the halls, flanked by two of the orderlies in the hall, and stopped at Green's door. Doctor Foyle pulled out the proper key and opened the door to reveal two men, sitting in the chairs, talking to Green as he sat cross-legged on his bed while wrapped in the straight jacket. Anna bristled at the sight of the two men, both of whom stood at the open door.

"Ah, it seems our visiting hours are being cut short." The one closest to them spoke, his voice as smooth and measured as his motions in buttoning his jacket and collecting his hat. "I wasn't aware that the Crawley's company was exerting influence this far into their employees' lives."

"And I wasn't aware that the owners of Carlisle and Bricker would take time from their busy schedules of intimidation and graft to visit our injured employees." Anna glowered at the man, "How is business Mr. Carlisle? I'd suspect it must be difficult when so many of your mercenaries were killed, injured, or arrested for their actions a few months ago."

"Our firm survives." The other man spoke, swiping invisible dust from his hat before putting it on his head, eyes bugging out slightly from an overly gaunt face. "Despite those horrible allegations and aspersions your employer sought to lob at us."

"The only aspersions you need worry about being cast in your direction, Mr. Bricker, are those your reputation weaves for you." Anna pointed at Green, "What's he to you?"

"Is it not our job to be concerned about the welfare of our fellowman?" Mr. Carlisle put a hand to his chest, as if affronted by her suggestion. "What's the harm in seeking to relieve the troubles of someone in need?"

"There are other hospitals and other patients if you're feeling charitable." Anna snorted, "Not that someone as devoid of empathy as yourself and your partner could truly comprehend that."

"And what does your empathy allow you to understand?" Bricker nodded at Green, "Not the plight of this poor soul I'd imagine."

"His fate was of his own choosing."

"And what of those injured in their fight against your compound?" Carlisle's voice went low and Anna ignored the confused look on Doctor Foyle's face. "I'm sure a few of them would find it very interesting to know how one, such as yourself, might've survived a calculated attack."

"I grew up in the jungle. It's my friend and I know it better than a hired gun."

"Command it better too, I'd imagine." Carlisle straightened, "Not that you need worry yourself overmuch about it all. The jungle will no longer be your concern when our company's managing it."

"Then you mistake what my duty to the jungle is, Mr. Carlisle." Anna shrugged, "I'm the doctor the people trust."

"But will there be a people to trust you in a few months time?" Bricker sighed, "From what we've heard, there's some sicknesses affecting the blacks there. I'd hate to see what happens if the cause goes unresolved or the symptoms untreated."

Anna ground her teeth, but did not answer.

Carlisle turned to Doctor Foyle. "Unless you've anything else to say to us, we'll be on our way. Wouldn't want to get in the way of Mr. Green's treatment. Especially since you've managed to help him find his lucidity so successfully."

"There's some debate on that account." Doctor Foyle squirmed. "I was wondering if you had anything to do with it."

"We're businessmen not," Carlisle flashed a look at Anna, "Witches or anything."

Anna held his gaze, "Modern medicine might be called a miracle, Mr. Carlisle, but it's not magic."

"I guess that would depend on what you're practicing, wouldn't it?" Bricker cut in, tipping his hat before heading down the hallway with Carlisle close at his heels.

Doctor Foyle turned to Anna, "What was that all about?"

"Best you not read too much into it." Anna took him aside, "Might I have a word, alone, with Mr. Green?"

"Be my guest." Doctor Foyle checked his watch, "I'll see about those transfer orders and get someone here as soon as we can mange it. I don't like the look of those men or the sound of what they've been doing here under my nose."

Anna went into the room, refusing to take the seats Carlisle and Bricker recently vacated, and stood before Green. He grinned up at her, an almost leer in the shadowed light of the room, and sniggered at her expression. She did not respond, just waited for him to speak.

Eventually the pressure drove him to words. "They frightened you."

"Not really." Anna folded her arms, "I'm here about the woman who's been visiting you."

"What woman?"

"The one who fixed you a month ago. The one who made it so you could sell out the Crawleys and give Carlisle and Bricker the information they're looking for." Anna waited but all Green could do was snigger. She kicked at the bed, rattling him so he slipped sideways on his tether. "I'm not here for games. What did you tell them and what did she do?"

"I don't know." He almost sang at her, "One day I was floating, lost in my mind, and then she was there. She guided me out. Not like you. Not like how you abandoned me in there. She wasn't like you. She found me and sorted through all the rubbish in my mind to bring me back from it."

"She made a mistake." Anna bent over, her hands on her knees so she and Green were face-to-face. "She should've left you for the doctors at Bedlam. London would've cured you."

"Because the land doesn't want me here?" He laughed, "That's what she said. But she told me there were those would keep me. Help me fight to keep my mind when it tried to tear me to pieces."

"That's the price for what you did." Anna stood straight again. "What she did broke the rules. She ruined the balance."

"What do I care about balance?"

"You should when you're mind's the price of losing it." Anna pushed a hand toward her hair, trying to keep the loose, floating strands out of her face where the fan in the room kicked them up. "What did she do?"

"I don't know but it worked." Green grinned again, "She said you and I could be together again because of what she did."

"Then she lied to you because that's never going to happen."

"It could." Anna turned, a woman of her height stood in the doorway with a bag under her arm. "There's always a chance. Especially with a little help involved."

"Help?" Anna narrowed her eyes, "I get the feeling your kind of 'help' doesn't come out of the goodness of anyone's heart."

"Not sure you serve as an adequate judge of someone's goodness, Doctor Smith. Even if they do call you the daughter of Bomazi."

Anna clenched her jaw, "What would you know about that?"

"I've done my rounds. Though, I admit, I spent most of my education in Haiti." She set her bag at the end of Green's bed. "They taught me well there. About as well as the Shadow Man in New Orleans did."

Anna paled, taking a step back. "Whatever you learned from him is an abomination."

"I'm too old to have big words thrown at me like they're curses of their own." She popped her bag open, "What he taught me helped his man emerge from the darkness of his mind. A darkness you put there."

"No, it was already there." Anna nodded at her, "And who are you? What do they call you where you're from?"

"Some called me Erzulie Dantor but I guess names aren't really that important."

"I meant your given name."

"Edna Braithwaite." She extended a hand toward Anna but Anna did not take it. "Ah, I see you're not so trustworthy."

"I don't trust you." Anna pointed at Green, "This man has been rejected by this land and needs to leave it."

"The land couldn't reject him." Edna shook her head, "You rejected him, Doctor Smith, and it's you who'll pay the price."

Her hand snaked into her bag and tossed something at Anna. But Anna raised a hand and brought the other around in a circle. A bright light emanated from her hand, blocking whatever flew at her, and the dust burst into a fog of black smoke.

Anna hissed something under her breath, moving her hand not clenched into a fist, around in a series of geometric shapes before weaving a complicated pattern. The smoke swirled and snaked about her, trying to break the protection before a line of golden light finished dissolving it. The cloud took one last bite but Anna's defense was faster.

It wrapped about Anna and she began another incantation, the hairs on her arm rose as tiny sparks of electricity bounced and jagged off of the metal in the room. They zinged and zipped, singeing Edna when she stood too close to Green's bed, and forced her back toward the wall. With her back exposed, Anna fiddling her fingers before stabbing her hand forward.

The energy in the room hit the bag, sending it rocketing toward the ceiling. It burst into flame and the contents spilled out. Anna looked up, raising her fist and opening it while spinning the other hand into a circle beneath her outstretched arm. As each item fell, it wrapped in golden light to burst in a shower of harmless sparks until all that was left to drift to the floor were the ashes of the bag.

Anna stepped back, stretching her hand, and turned to Edna. "I know what you did to make him whole again. You bargained for his soul, didn't you? You made him a conduit for something and mended him by sucking raw energy through him. You've opened him up to the powder of a realm beyond ours so you could get stronger."

"And if I did?" Edna stepped toward Anna, shrugging at the ashes on the floor. "You think that was my only bag of tricks? That I don't keep others to help me do my work like you do yours?"

"I know you're dealing with the wrong kind of voodoo and you're making deals with the wrong gods." Anna held out her hand, glowing gold again. "And you'll have to pay them for what they gave you. But, for now, I'm going to set this right. I'm ending his connection with all of that. He's not your toy anymore."

She put her hand forward and placed her palm on Green's forehead. Her fingers wrapped over his skull and she took a deep breath, chanting in an undertone. He squirmed under her, crying out as she continued and tried to block out his noises.

But something stabbed into her side and Anna screeched in response. She turned, her hand still on Green's head, and saw Edna clawing at her. Anna pushed her away, focusing on her process as the fingers of her other hand started tracing symbols in the air above Green's head.

Edna's shouts filled the room and Anna risked a look to see how she writhed on the floor. Her skin mottled and blotched as it bubbled. With fingers flexing in time with the retractions of her body, Edna cried out as her entire frame quivered. Anna forced her concentration back to her work with Green and finished the process to remove her hand.

When Anna went to remove her hand, Green's fingers wrapped over her wrist. Anna glanced down and noted great gashes in the fabric that bound him, his arms and hands now free of the jacket and the tether, and she tried to get away. He leapt up and the motion cost Anna her balance. She stumbled back, with Green still holding onto her, and they tumbled to the floor.

All the wind rushed out of Anna and she struggled to calm herself enough to manage the shallow breaths she needed to refill her lungs. Edna's legs kicked out toward them and one caught Anna in the side while the other knocked Green in the head. He fell sideways, losing his grip on Anna, and she scrambled away.

But there was nowhere to go. The door was closed and Edna blocked it, her screams of pain matched only by the terribly appearance of her mutating and mutilated body still caught in the throes of whatever she owed the demons she paid for Green's resurrection. And Green, his mad and raving, now yanked at the bars on his window.

He tugged them loose, showering himself with dust and paint chips before dropping them heavily to the floor. Green slumped against the wall a moment, only just catching himself before he crashed to the floor. Anna edged toward him but he flailed an arm and she dodged away.

"Think you'll stop me again?" He seethed at her, breathing hard as Anna noticed the last of whatever strength he gained from the raw energy in the room that he only managed to siphon due to Edna's mistaken intentions, ebbed away. "You can't stop me anymore."

"If you leave now you'll die. The land will kill you."

"She made me stronger."

"No, she bargained something much worse for your soul and it'll come to take you the way it took her." Anna pointed back to what was once the body of Edna Braithwaite. "It's not just your mind. It's your being."

"We'll see about that." Green climbed through the window and jumped to the ground below.

Anna went to the window and watched Green land before hobbling away. She slumped against the shattered wood, slipping to the floor. All of her strength drained so she could not even react when Doctor Foyle burst into the room with the help of two orderlies.

He cried out at the sight of Edna's body on the floor and one of the orderlies vomited just outside the door. Doctor Foyle managed to hold back, making his way gingerly over to where Anna sat. Crouching down before her, he took her hand.

"What happened here? What happened to her? Where's Green?"

Anna shook her head, "Green's gone. He got out."

"How?"

"Whatever she was doing to him. It…" Anna stopped herself. "You wouldn't understand if I told you."

"She was a Shadow Woman." They both looked at the orderly who kept his head, watching his quavering finger as it pointed toward Edna. "She angered the wrong gods and they took their due from her."

"What's he talking about?" Doctor Foyle turned to Anna but the orderly spoke again.

"The Daughter of Bomazi knows. She knows the gods who wait to take those foolish enough to play with what they don't understand." He nodded at Anna. "You sent her to pay her price."

Anna gave him a quick nod. "But not quickly enough."

"It's enough for her. The land will take care of him."

Doctor Foyle's face was a mass of confusion, disgust, and panic. "What are they talking about Anna? What the hell is going on?"

Anna put a hand on his shoulder. "I think you'll need to sit down if I tell you any of this."

The conversation with Doctor Foyle went about as she expected. He sat in stunned silence at first. Then he raged about the impossibility of it all before reverting, for a moment, to his religious roots and claiming it as pagan devil worship. Then he chose to side with his medical training and sought solace in the impossibility of forces such as Anna suggested.

But when he ran out of options he had to accept what Anna told him. With a hand to his hair, the other holding his third glass of brandy before his hands stopped shaking, he nodded at her. "What do I write in my report?"

"That a patient killed someone and then broke out of his cell." Anna stood, "I've been here too long already and you… you've got enough to deal with."

"Wait," He put his glass on his desk, holding up a finger as Anna stopped at the door. "What did that orderly call you?"

"The Daughter of Bomazi."

"What does that mean?"

"Bomazi was one of the gods who appeared to the first couple of the Bushongo and promised them a daughter. When he wed her, they had five sons and those five sons became the chiefs of the five tribes."

"Then why call you his daughter?"

"Because its how they explain what I can do." Anna shrugged, "To them, people like me are a bit like gods. We control nature and help balance it. It's what the gods do."

"They don't… worship you, do they?"

Anna laughed, shaking her head. "No. They just respect the calling I have."

"But you're a doctor."

"Yes and I heal in many different ways." Anna came back to the desk, "Tony, I need to ask you not to tell anyone about this. It's a closely guarded secret."

Tony spluttered a laugh. "Who's going to believe me even if I did tell someone? That my friend and colleague controls the forces of nature?" He laughed again, "They'd lock us both up in this hospital."

"Then you'll not say anything?"

"I wouldn't have the faintest clue what to say." He stood, holding out his hand, "Your secret's safe with me Anna."

"Thank you." She shook his hand, "That means a lot to me."

"It's the least I can do considering the secret you're keeping about me." Tony cringed, "I… I still haven't told Mabel."

"Best wait until you're back in London and Mary's here. It'll make it less like you stayed to be close to your old paramour." Anna went for the door again but Tony called at her.

"With Green out there, I worry for your safety Anna. He was obsessed with you before but if he's as dangerous as you say he is now…"

"I'll be alright." Anna assured him, trying to smile. "Whatever he's got planned, the jungle'll take care of him."

"Because the jungle's your friend?"

"Because the jungle's my friend."

Anna left the hospital, driving back to the compound much more slowly than she drove away from it that morning. When Anu saw her he tried to speak but she held up a hand, shaking her head. He backed away, leaving Anna to slump into the seat at her desk. She sighed, resting her head on the wood, and could only groan when someone came next to her.

"Anu, I said-" But when she raised her head to look it was not Anu. John crouched there, staring at her. "John? What are you doing here?"

"I heard something happened at the hospital. I wanted to make sure you were alright."

"I'm…" Anna shook her head. "I'm terrible John."

"What happened?"

"Green escaped his room, I helped send a Shadow Woman to meet her angry gods, and Tony knows about what I can do now."

"Is that bad?"

"Tony'll keep it a secret mostly because he doesn't really believe any of it anyway. He thinks it's hokum and superstition." Anna put her hand over John's. "The rest of it… that's solidly my fault."

"Why?"

"I shouldn't have gone into Green's mind in the first place. I meddled where I shouldn't have, thinking I was doing good, and just paved the road to my own personal Hell with my misguided good intentions." She managed a harsh laugh, "More to the point, I made him susceptible to Edna's work and she molded his mind. Now he's out and about, his mind is mostly whole but he's reeking with raw energy that'll eat him up if he doesn't fall to the madness of the jungle first."

"And you blame yourself for this?"

"Shouldn't I?"

"No." John gripped her hands. "You sought to balance a wrong and you did what you could."

"It wasn't good enough."

"It was what you could do now and when you can mend it later you'll do enough then." John put a hand to her face. "You're not the one to blame for this."

"Then why do I feel so guilty?"

"Because you're a good person." John hesitated, taking his hand from her face to reach into his pocket. "It's why I want to marry you."

"What?" Anna looked down to see a plain ring and then back at John's face, shaking her head. "You can't want that. You can't want me."

"I told you, last night, that I intended for us to be married before man and God and I meant it." John paused, "Unless you-"

"No," Anna shook her head so violently her hair almost escaped its tight braid. "It's… I'm not… I can't… I'm too broken John. I killed someone today. I broke a man's mind."

"No, you didn't."

"I did." Anna insisted, taking his hands in hers so the ring indented the skin of her palms. "I can't break you. Please don't let me break you the way I'm broken."

"But Anna," He calmed, extracting a hand from her punishing grip, and holding her more gently. "You've already seen that I'm broken too."

"Then why are we being so foolish as to-"

"Because we'll mend one another together." John brought the ring up again, "This is how we fix ourselves."

Anna stared at it, and then into John's eyes. "Do you mean that?"

"Anna, I'm a free man with no other desire in this world than your happiness." John took her left hand and slid the ring into place on her finger. "If you'll let me, I promise I won't let a day go by before I'm given all I can to you and to that promise."

She covered her mouth with her other hand, choking on a sob, and then flung her arms around John's shoulders. Holding tightly there, she cried into his shirt and did not pull away until she was finished. Anna wiped at her eyes and John waited, still on his knees before her chair, until she could speak.

"Yes."

"Yes?"

"Yes I'll marry you." Anna caught herself laughing and almost crying again. "I'll marry you, John Bates."


	13. Have You Ever Seen the Rain?

John hugged Anna all the tighter, not wanting to let go for even a moment. There was a small part of his mind that worried if he did let go she might come to her senses and change her mind. But Anna, still brushing tears from her face, did not release him from her grip.

"Mind if I congratulate you both before I go out on rounds?" John looked up and then hurried to stand, legs buckling as the stiffness in his forced kneel robbed his lower extremities of blood.

"Absolutely." John shook Anu's hand. "I'm sorry that I did even realize you were here."

"I'm easy to miss when I'm not needed." Anu released John's hand and opened his arms to Anna. "If I may?"

"Of course you can," She held him tightly around the shoulders, John admiring the way the band caught the light for a moment. "You're partially to blame for this."

"Then I'll bear that blame gladly." Anu clapped John on the back. "I know this advice isn't necessary for you but, treat her well."

"You've no need to fear on that account."

"Then I'm off on rounds." Anu lifted his bag and left the ward.

John faced Anna again and it was as if he could not stop himself holding her. As if some force wanted to keep her bound to him forever, encircled in the compass of his arms forever. And he agreed with the sentiment with every fiber of his being.

Anna did eventually pull away and John frowned when her eyes darted over the ward. She left him, slipping loose to walk to the door to the ward and turn the lock before setting the beam to hold the door closed. His frown only deepened when she shut all the shutters that left the ward visible to the compound below before returning to him.

"I realized something." Her fingers danced along the line of buttons to his shirt and John's eyebrows rose in time with his blood pressure.

"And what was that?"

"I haven't kissed you yet." Anna sat herself on the edge of her desk so their heads were roughly more equal than they were when she stood. "And I believe one should kiss the man they're going to marry."

"I-" John coughed, her hand smoothing over the shirt sticking to his skin driving all conscious thought far from his mind. "I think so."

"Then," Her fingers crunched into this shirt and yanked him between her open legs to almost bang on the wood of her desk. "I'd say we should do it right now."

John could not answer. Even if he had words to give her, which he did not, Anna put her mouth over his faster than he could think. And he realized that thinking was overrated.

Her leg, still encased in the trousers that protected her from the brush and the bush, wrapped around his hip to align them as their lips moved over one another. John's hand moved to the desktop, trying to find the purchase for the support he so desperately needed. His other hand came up to cup her face. Not to control their kiss, as he thought it was moving just fine on its own, but to steady himself to the onslaught of her attentions.

It is almost like when they were in the jungle. This place is as much a part of her as she is of it. Neither existing without the other. She is this hospital, she is the caretaker, she is the jungle and… she is everything to him.

Anna's fingers do not match the speed of her lips. They fumble and flick until John only knows his shirt is open because it bunches and brushes differently now. He pushes at the rolled up sleeves, catching on his elbows and wrists and every part of his sweaty arms in between, but he manages to drop the shirt to the side as Anna's hands smooth and sculpt at him.

There is much to be said for the benefits of tactile sensation. More for the way she utilizes her already skilled hands to send his blood boiling and his body temperature rising. In the stifling ward that could only beat helplessly at the heat with a few overhead fans, John could have counted the individual beads of sweat she sent rolling down his back.

Poetry might demand them choose one of the beds. Perhaps the one where he first trusted her with the herbal remedy that was anything but. Or maybe the table where she saw him naked… the first time. But John could no more shift his position in space than he could in time as Anna's shirt joined his on the floor and he could finally run his confused hands over her skin.

The stick of sweat did not mar their mutual explorations. For as careful as they may have been with one another the night before, for as ambitious or curious, it was nothing to what they were now. Even with the thought that the door might open at any moment or someone may needed medical attention, they continued their steady pace.

John's hands finally took the lead, running along the edge of Anna's trousers, and opened the clasp there before pulling the zipper. The creak of the metal teeth pulling apart almost set his teeth on edge but Anna held his jaw while her teeth nipped toward his ear. He sighed, fingers fumbling, and finally managed to leave the fabric gaping.

She did not move, just teethed at his earlobe, and whispered to him. "I'm sure you know what you're doing so why don't I just let you continue?"

He stuttered, swallowing with a gulp she only gave a laugh. "It's your office."

"And when it's your office," Anna bit down on his ear lobe before sucking on it. "Then you can set the terms. But right now, I think I want to enjoy you for a bit longer."

"Anyone could come in."

"They could." She trilled, the vibration of her words sending tremors up his jaw. "But that's the risk we run."

John's hand moved almost before his conscious mind could fathom it. Pushing past the material of her knickers, damp from sweat and soaking from her, he slid a finger between her folds. Anna's nails dug into the exposed skin of his shoulder and John hissed with the pain to use it as energy to work into her harder. His finger slipped and caught, the restraints of their position and her partially clothed condition forcing John to pull away from the attentions of her mouth so he could strip her trousers down.

They caught on her ankles but John ignored them now that they were out of the way so he could let her knickers join them. The heat of the room had her knickers catching and sticking as his shirt had but Anna slipped back on the desk and the edge of the wood did most of the work. John caught her, stopping her moving too far, and dragged her back toward him so his fingers speared through her folds and the attentions of his thumb at her nerves could send her crying out.

Bending his head, John caught hold of her mouth, trying to muffle her sounds in case anyone happened to be passing, and continued working her with his fingers. But after a moment, he tore away from her mouth in frustration and reached backward blindly for her chair. Anna gasped and tried to follow his motions but before she could John was seated in her chair and held her open with gentle hands on her thighs as he lowered his mouth to her.

Only her elbows caught her before her back could hit the desk and John set to work. One of Anna's hands grabbed for his hair, tugging it ever-tightening fingers as she guided his lips, tongue, and teeth where she wanted him, and the other reached behind her head to clutch at the edge of the desk for support. John's hands at her thighs stroked and soothed, one hand reaching high enough to manipulate and massage her breasts through the material of her brassiere. However, his focus was on the taste filling his mouth and the scent overwhelming his senses.

He delved deep, his other hand aiding the attentions of his mouth, and soon John used his fingers crooked inside her to bring Anna to the edge of sanity. She writhed on the desk, open and moaning when he sucked or licked at her, and with each lift of her hips John's fingers plunged in deeper. Finally, when her words were incoherent, John tugged at her nerves with his teeth and sucked them into his mouth.

The sound she made rivaled the roars of lions and John took all the taste he could from her. Still conscious of the blocked door and the suspicious duration of its current status, John stood as if to help Anna up. Her hand, having left the stranglehold on his hair, found his trousers and yanked him forward. John stumbled, just catching himself on the desk and Anna lifted up enough to kiss him.

One of her hands, the one with the indentations from the desk he could now feel as bumps on his skin, held him close while she sucked her taste from him before running her tongue over the inside of his mouth. And the skill she used was almost enough to distract him from the questing of her fingers. Enough so that when she opened his belt and gripped him through his pants, John stuttered and had to break the kiss to control his breathing enough not to embarrass himself.

"Don't tell me you were thinking of going without." Anna used her grip to guide him backward enough so she could slip off the desk, still stroking him. "I believe in fair trade."

"I… We…"

"Shhhh." Anna put a finger to his lips before kissing him again. "We'll have time for this."

She turned, placing her hands on her desk and gripping there. John's brow furrowed until she looked over her shoulder at him. "Well?"

Without another invitation, John pushed his own trousers down and bunched his pants around his knees. He had to step carefully, to avoid landing himself on his ass or his face if he tripped, and eased behind Anna. She shivered at his touch, rubbing shameless against him when the pulse of his erection settled in the crease of her ass.

He ran a hand over her, dipping to tease her legs as far apart as her trousers would allow, before running himself over her soaked and weeping folds. Anna's head hung forward, the knuckles on her hands whitening in their grip on the desk, and she moaned. John's hands slipped over her back, ran back to her breasts encased in the soaked fabric, before he laid kisses over her glistening shoulders.

So intent on relaxing her, John put his mouth to her ear. "Have you done this before?"

"I've only seen it done." Her voice was low, "In nature… and in the villages."

"I'll be gentle." John tried to reassure her, keeping his touch light but he grunted when he felt one of Anna's hands hold him.

"I'd rather you weren't." She slipped just a touch lower, massaging over his sack. "I don't need that right now."

And so John did as she asked. Without another word he drove forward. They both choked, trying to comprehend the sensations, and John searched for a better hold. One hand went to her hip and the other grabbed her ass to keep her close as he thrust forward again.

Anna bent farther other, her fingers still taunting and teasing to drive John mad. So he rutted into her, pulling to the edge to drive forward with all the finesse or a charging animal. His lips met her skin sloppily and when she turned her head to him their mouths moved over one another quickly and with all the frenetic energy of two exposed wires.

A prickle on his skin had John wondering if one of her lightning strikes would incinerate the room about them but instead he risked a hand forward to rub furiously over her nerves. Anna broke the kiss, resting her cheek next to his where it rested over her shoulder. The position kept her back tight to his chest and they slid together as he continued moving inside her.

"You're…" Anna could barely manage speaking but John could only wonder how she managed coherent thought. "Deep."

"You're wet." He got out through gritted teeth and pressed hard when her fingers squeezed at his sack the way her internal muscles clung to him.

Anna came again, throwing her head back toward his shoulder and John attacked her neck with his kisses and attentions until she could kiss him back. He finished soon after, grunting and holding her close as his body shook and stuttered to finish. They almost collapsed against the desk as they tried to breathe.

John drew back enough to find Anna's chair again and sat heavily on it. She draped on her desk, eventually pushing herself up, and reached for her trousers. John helped her, their hands meeting as she went to fasten them, and she shivered when he kissed the small of her back before pulling away.

"I don't remember any kisses I've had ending that way." John managed, pulling at his own clothes and struggling more now that his skin stuck with the increased sweat.

"I wouldn't mind all the kisses we give one another for the rest of our lives ending that way." Anna found her shirt, handing his over to him, and pulling it over her arms. "But what I want more than anything at the moment is a bath. Or at least some cold water to rinse."

"I wouldn't mind that." John tilted in the chair to look out the back doors. "What about the river?"

"I'm not a fan of hippos." Anna shook her head, "I'll sluice with a water pitcher instead."

"I would've thought you might've said you didn't want to risk a crocodile."

"A crocodile will grab you, drag you to the bottom of the river, and eat you there. But a hippo can crush your back with one bite and then trample you to death. No thank you." Anna pushed her hair back, wrapping it into a higher braid and wrapping it around itself to keep off her neck. "I need to open the door before they think I died in here."

"Right." John stood but Anna caught his hand.

"It's not over."

"I'd hope not." John kissed her hand and then saw her head shake. "What?"

"I'd like…" She licked over her lips, "Might I request you keep me company tonight?"

"Don't you sleep here?"

"Yes but Anu's not sleeping here and there aren't any patients so…" Anna shrugged, "Unless you don't-"

"I'd like that." John smiled, flustered with his buttons and realizing he did them up in the wrong order. "I'm just worried about your reputation."

"My reputation?"

"I'd hate for someone to get the wrong idea about us. Especially since-"

Anna nodded, "Especially since my mother was in a similar state?"

"I don't want you to suffer any ill effects."

"I promise," Anna stood on tiptoe to kiss his cheek before letting go of his hand to open the shudders. "I won't suffer if you're with me."

"Then I'll be here." John lifted the board from over the door and Anna met him there before he could leave. They managed another kiss, Anna fixing his buttons, and he left.

John kept turning his head back toward the field hospital so much so he almost ran into Robert. He stumbled, catching them both and before they could finish their apologies they realized what had happened. They separated, each shuffling in place a moment and refusing to look at the other, until they both spoke.

"I just wanted-"

"I think I-"

They paused and John waved a hand toward Robert. "I think I should yield the floor to you."

"I don't think that's really necessary." Robert adjusted the folio in his hands. "We're not much for ceremony here."

"All the same…" John flailed with his hand and then clamped his jaw shut.

"Well then…" Robert cleared his throat. "I wanted to apologize to you. And to Anna but I found you first and… here we are."

"Here we are." John clasped his hands behind his back. "Doctor Smith and I've spoken about it and we think we could've handled it better."

"Then you're both wrong because it's my handling of the matter that was abysmally poor and you've nothing, either of you, for which you need apologize." Robert rolled his shoulders back, "I called you here to help me run this place and when you had an idea outside of mine I rejected it. My fear blinded me and I'm ashamed to say I've only begun to realize it now."

John frowned, "Sir?"

"I know you're not ignorant of the fact that Matthew and Mary have been in London fighting with our parent company to keep us here while I've been forced into meetings with Carlisle and Bricker?"

"I did hear something to that effect, yes."

"Then I'm sure you're also aware that Mr. Green recently gained enough coherence to give them inside information into our operations."

"But Green hasn't worked here in a year. Surely his information is out of date."

"Some of it was, yes, and the mercenaries of theirs we had testify on our behalf were also helpful but overall I think the risk I run is losing my company to those bloodsucking leeches." Robert took a breath, "And what I should've worried about was the people here with whom I've built relationships of trust. They're relying on me and at the first test of those promises I almost betrayed them."

"I think-"

"I haven't finished." John bit back the end of his comment to allow Robert to continue. "I wanted to thank you, for being brave enough to tell me what you thought and I hope, in future, I have more faith in you. And in Doctor Smith."

John waited a moment and then spoke, "Is there anything we can do?"

"You already have." Robert tapped the folio in his hands. "I found a way, with your help, to save both the company and the people but it'll take a bit of work and I need someone I trust implicitly to handle it."

"What?"

"I need you to go on a bit of an adventure for me. It's to meet with a friend of mine who I hope will agree to help us."

"Who?"

Robert squirmed, "He's a good friend of Matthew's, which is why I'm waiting until Matthew gets back to send you both, but he's willing to give us access to a technology he's developed for the mining process that's not only safer for the environment but also far more efficient."

"And you want Matthew to get it?"

"I want you to go with Matthew to get it." Robert shrugged, "It's all I can think of and with Carlisle and Bricker breathing down my neck while sharpening their knives it's a lifeboat."

"Then I'm at your service."

"Thank you, John." Robert put a hand to his shoulder. "And if there's anything I can do in return, please don't hesitate to ask it of me."

John paused, "There is something… I think."

"Name it."

"Do you know which village holy man Doctor Smith trusts most?"

Robert frowned, "I'm not sure really."

"I guess it was-"

"No," Robert held up a hand, still thinking. "I know she's close with the local pastor but otherwise I think she's more closely aligned with the local religions in theory than practice."

"Thank you." John started to walk away but Robert called him back.

"It may be none of my business, and you've every right to tell me it's not, but why do you ask?"

"I… um…" John looked over his shoulder at the field hospital before meeting Robert's eyes again. "Best not to say yet. It's a bit of a surprise and a secret is best kept by one person."

"Understandable." Robert held out his hand, "I'd like to begin our partnership anew, John. To turn over a new leaf in what I hope will continue to be a beneficial arrangement for the both of us."

"I do too sir." John shook Robert's hand. "And I think we'll make a fine team again."

"I agree." Robert released his hand, "If I can stop myself being an ass this time."

"We've all got our periods of being asses in our own right."

"That we do." Robert nodded, walking away, "That we do."

John hurried back to his office, trying to sort out final details on bits of paperwork but his mind replayed the events on Anna's desk… and made him horribly aware of her promise for his desk in future. He blinked, the pages before him swimming in his vision, and eventually pushed himself to stand. In a few strides he stood on his balcony and took the bucket of rainwater there, collected from the night before, and dumped it over his head.

The water sluiced down him and John set the bucket to the side, breathing deeply as he leaned on the wooden railing. His head turned just a touch and he noticed Anna on her balcony. She stopped, a bucket in her hands, and John gaped. The smile she gave, wrapped as she was in a long piece of fabric that brushed at her ankles, almost had John reaching for the empty bucket again. With a nod and a tip, her water rushed over her head as well.

"Feeling cooler Mr. Bates?" She called out to him, setting her bucket to the side and pointing toward the sky. "If you leave your bucket out it might catch some of the rainwater from tonight's storm."

"Is there supposed to be a storm?" John stepped to the side, shoes squelching as he realized they filled with water from his dripping and draining clothing.

"Perhaps not as violent as last night but perhaps." Anna wrung out the hem of her wrapped blanket. "I hope you're feeling a touch cooler."

"It's… not as successful as I thought."

"What a shame." Anna winked at him, placing the bucket carefully on the balcony. "Perhaps there's a cure for it."

"I can think of a few."

"So can I." She waved, "Good evening, Mr. Bates."

The wait until dark was interminable. John paced his room, managed a few scrawled notes, tried to complete his work but lost his train of thought so often he was not sure he had one, and then returned to pacing. When darkness fell enough, he practically ran from his rooms and across the short distance to reach the stairs that would take him up to the field hospital.

At the top he stopped himself, breathing deeply and smoothing at his shirt before rapping his knuckles against the door. Anu opened it and before John could say a word they traded places. The other man winked at him, chuckling as he descended the stairs.

Closing the door quietly, John padded over the floor to the door he thought was Anna's. He knocked but no one answered. Before he could knock again she stuck her head out of another door, further down, and waved at him.

"You're looking for this one, Mr. Bates."

John sheepishly ducked his head and walked into her room. She closed the panels and John saw the same wrapped fabric from earlier. He pointed to it, brow furrowed.

"What is that?"

"Cooler than clothing." Anna patted the bed, "You'll be sharing this, if you don't mind it's a bit small for two."

"It means you'll have to sleep all the closer to me." John unbuttoned his shirt, pausing when he reached the halfway point. "We are… sleeping, yes?"

"That's what one occasionally does at night, Mr. Bates." Anna brought a lamp near the bed and laid herself on her side until she noticed he had not moved. "Aren't you coming?"

"I guess I…" John slapped his hands against his legs. "I'm not sure what I'm doing."

"With your shirt or-"

"Here."

"Ah," Anna sat up, pulling her legs closer so she could rest her arms on her knees. "You're here so we can practice sleeping next to one another."

"Is this a custom you-?"

"No, it's personal preference." Anna laughed, laying back down. "Just get yourself as comfortable as you can and join me."

John got himself down to his pants and then drew in at her side. They adjusted and moved until Anna lay on her side with John at her back. She fell asleep faster than he could, enthralled as he was watching her sleep.

So enthralled he could not stop himself running his fingers over her skin. Or kissing at her shoulders and neck. Or running his fingers through her hair to draw it over the pillow between them.

She was not idle. His pants were on the floor with the fabric she ripped from herself and her leg was over his. John responded to her clutching at his wrist and followed her commands to touch and press where she wanted him. His fingers traced the folds and breaches he journeyed before to drive moans from her body and set her writhing against him.

With each stroke of her ass against him, John shunted forward so she could feel him against her. A sensation she used as impetus to run her fingers over his skin and then hold him. They worked one another closer and closer to the edge until John sent her tumbling over first.

As Anna gasped and grasped into her pillow, seeking solace and relief, John slipped himself inside. They were still for a few moments before John moved. One of his arms wrapped around her waist, holding her to him, and he shifted slowly into her again.

It was not like before, the crackling and snapping of lightning motions of two people clawing for release. This was a slow build that had Anna moaning longer and higher with each steady pump of John into her as deeply as he could muster. She still twitched and clutched at him, her body a riot of emotions and sensations but John maintained his ruthlessly slow pace.

Anna came again and that was when John heard it. A soft patter against the roof that turned into a steady pour. A cool breeze whipped through the window to raise the hairs on John's arms and he sped up his pace. With her fingers digging into the skin of his ass and his wrists, John let go.

The corner of his mind still holding onto thought maintained the pace but he no longer fumbled for his desires. They broke over him as they had for Anna and he panted into her shoulder and hair. One of Anna's hands stroked over his temple and he shifted enough to meet her lips.

Their quiet kiss left a little whimper in Anna and John slipped free. He adjusted, holding her close, and kissed over her skin as he had earlier. She snorted and John stopped.

"What?"

"Ready again, John?"

"I'm… well, no but…"

"Then perhaps you shouldn't be so devilishly handsome or work me into such a state so soon." Anna sighed back into her pillow, leaning her head just enough to rest it on his shoulder, "Let the evening be more perfect than the day was."

"I can manage that." John kissed her one last time, on her hairline, and closed his eyes.

They breathed together until they both fell asleep.


	14. Tuxedo Junction

Anna held still as Mary placed the last pin. "And there, all done."

"Am I allowed to move?" Anna raised a hand but Mary slapped it away. "You came all the way from London to tell me I can't even touch my hair?"

"The only person I expect to touch your hair is the man you're about to marry in the smallest ceremony I've ever attended."

"I think John's just excited he didn't have a list from my parents to provide for the dot."

"You wouldn't have had to follow it anyway you know." Mary touched at parts of Anna's hair and then stepped away, frowning at it. "I think you'll fine with the little church ceremony you managed."

"It doesn't feel quite right to just be married in a building."

"You've got to obey a few strange traditions and I'm sure you'll manage to balance them all effectively. Although I'm confused as to why you think you've got to follow the Congolese traditions when you're not Congolese."

"It's the idea behind the thing." Anna held up her arms as Mary adjusted the dress a bit. "Respecting the land and the traditions behind it."

"Whatever you think, and whatever traditions you want to observe, it's more important is that you're getting married." Mary stepped away from Anna. "Not sure how this dress will go over in the church but I guess since half of your guests will be wearing the same thing there's nothing to be done about that."

"You're just jealous you've married in a stone church during a rainstorm."

"Better than having to fight the heat just to keep all of your guests awake in that stifling matchbox of a church."

"Keeps the ceremony short I say." Anna turned a circle in the mirror. "It's beautiful Mary. You've outdone yourself."

"Not as much as you've outdone yourself." Mary clicked her teeth, helping Anna down from the box and walking to the door to take a look out. "My father told me what you and Mr. Bates risked and I'm impressed."

"As impressed as you are with Matthew about having a friend with some secret invention?" Anna came to Mary's side and darted her head out the door as well. "I think the coast's clear."

"It should be. Papa was supposed to have Mr. Bates at the church an hour ago." Mary pulled Anna after her and down the stairs. "And yes, about the invention. Though I do feel a bit bad it's biting at the heels of your honeymoon."

"John's as excited as Robert is about the chance to do some good." Anna held the end of her dress as Anu and Mary helped her into the jeep. "And I support that as well as I support him because it means the people are here'll be healthier."

"Which is cause for celebration among us all." Anu helped Mary into her seat before taking the wheel. "Everyone ready?"

"Ready as she'll ever be." Mary tapped the dashboard. "Let's get going Anu."

Anu drove them into town and pulled to a stop in front of a small church. Villagers filed into the church, a few of them swamping Anna as she got out of the car to wish her blessings. Anna thanked them as Mary pushed her forward, only just stopping at the door.

"Alright," Mary fixed the last details of Anna's hair and dress before taking a small bouquet of her own. "I'm so happy for you Anna. You've no idea how excited I am that you found John and that you're going to be so happy."

"Thank you Mary." Anna went to hug her but Mary put out a hand.

"You'll ruin neither that dress nor your hair. They need to be in fine order until Mr. Bates ruins them later." Mary rolled her shoulders back. "On with the show."

Mary preceded Anna into the church, walking down the aisle as the aged piano trilled out the familiar march on twangy and out of tune strings, and Anna turned to Anu. He offered her his arm, a smile splitting his face wide open. Anna put her hand in his arm and walked with him to the door.

"You know," He whispered at her. "In my religion, when the man and the woman marry, they walk around a fire seven times to remember the seven lives they will be bound together."

"Sorry we don't have a fire." Anna giggled a bit and they matched pace to walk down the aisle. "But I appreciate the sentiment."

"The kind of love you and John have will bear with you for the rest of your lives." They pulled up to where John stood and Anu tucked Anna's hand in John's. "And into whatever lives you live after this one."

"Thank you." Anna kissed Anu's cheek, his mustache and beard scratching her face a bit. "For everything."

"It's been my sincerest pleasure." He took his seat next to Mary and Matthew as John led Anna the last step toward the pastor.

Whatever words the pastor said were not important. All Anna could do was hold tightly to John's hands and stare in his eyes. Her fingers stroked and moved in his, slipping and holding tightly to one another as they waited for the drone of the pastor's voice to die away. When it did Anna tipped forward to kiss John and the room erupted.

The noise had the pastor making a face but Anna could not bring herself to care. John's hand in hers, holding over the ring he added to the one he used for their proposal, gave her the most profound thrill. A thrill the room shared as everyone offered their congratulations or hugged them tightly.

Even the procession back to one of the villages could not keep the smile from Anna's face. The sounds of joy and laughter rose above the oppressive heat and her dress allowed just enough air to billow through so her skin did not feel as sticky as her face. Whenever she moved to touch her face Mary batted her hand away, hissing about spoiling the effect.

They arrived at the circle of huts and Wasimbu greeted them. He took Anna's hands, leading her to her place first and putting John at her side. Once they were settled the party began.

Food, music, and dancing followed. John, in his tuxedo, held an expression of awe, discomfort, and confusion. Anna linked their hands, holding him close to her each time she explained the traditions going on about them. Eventually he loosened his tie, removed his jacket, left his vest to the side, and even allowed someone to suggest he remove his shoes and socks so he could join in on one of the dances. Wasimbu took John's hand, leading him through the crowd to join the other dancers.

Anna smiled at him, watching Wasimbu take the time to teach John the steps he needed. Then, beginning slowly to ensure John could keep up, the group increased the pace. The part of Anna that connected with the jungle tingled and she risked a look at the sky, expecting to feel the drizzle of rain, but instead could only ear the sounds of the jungle calling their approval.

She snuck off into the trees, offering her excuses quickly, and found a spot not too far from the excitement. Kneeling on the ground she chanted softly, removing a handful of herbs, flowers, and other objects from a pouch before sprinkling them over the earth. Then she put her hands together and finished the prayer.

A hand came down on her shoulder and she saw Wasimbu there. "You're husband is looking for you Anna."

"And you told him you'd find me?" Anna got to her feet, taking his hands. "Thank you."

"He's a good man. The best man for you." Wasimbu gave her a broad smile but Anna noticed the twinges at the corners of his mouth.

"What is it?"

"These past few weeks we've been hearing sounds from the jungle. Strange noises that have our Rain Queen worried."

"About?"

"You. She says all the signs point to something coming for you. Some darkness she cannot see. But it comes to threaten you."

"I'm safe with John."

"John's not the threat." Wasimbu took her hands, "Trust me, Anna. Though our lives took different paths I am interested only in your welfare. I know you are safe with John and he loves you. But something else is out there waiting for you."

"The other witch is dead."

"But her creation is not."

Anna nodded, "You mean Green?"

"I don't know. All I know is something dark waits for you and I am to warn you. But now," He led her back to where John waited, "I deliver you to your husband and both of you to your hut."

"Our hut?" John frowned as two other men helped him stand and guided them to a place at the edge of the village.

"Yours." Wasimbu smiled, "It's where you spend your first night. It's how the village thanks their doctor and their friend."

"Thank you." Anna kissed his cheek and the cheeks of the other two men. "It's beautiful."

"We leave you now." Wasimbu raised his hand, walking back toward the fire. "The gods watch over you and your first night."

Anna waved them away and turned to John. He scratched at the back of his head, "Is this when we tell him it's not our first night together?"

"Or our first in nature?" Anna ducked into the hut, noting the small candle flickering in the corner. "No, this is tradition. A promise of our place amongst the tribe."

"Honorary, I'll assume." John walked to the mat spread over the ground.

"Yes." Anna stood by the door, "I've seen so much through the open doors of these huts."

"Is this where you saw…?" He trailed off and Anna turned to him, raising her eyebrows. John coughed, "Where you saw how to… From behind."

"Yes," Anna turned to him, nodding at the mat. "You lay there."

"Fully clothed or-?"

"You'll want to be comfortable for this." Anna put her hands to the complicated ties keeping her dress high up on her chest. "We might be watched."

"Watched?" John balked a bit, his fingers fumbling with the buttons of his shirt. "I don't remember needing a consummation ceremony."

"It's not official but children get curious and a few of the older ones might want to sneak a peek so they're not so frightened when it's their turn." Anna let the top of her dress fall to her waist and John's jaw dropped when he saw she was naked under it. "Surely you're familiar with curiosity."

"Very." He managed to rid himself of his clothes as quickly as he could manage. "I just didn't know it was that universal."

"Things are a bit different here." Anna worked the ties at her wrist to drop the material of her dress to the floor in a heap and approach John without a stitch. "It's not discussed but it's not avoided."

"None of those pesky Victorian Values then?"

"Not really." Anna bent down and then put a knee on either side of John's hips as he lay back underneath her. "Especially not when I do what I'm about to."

"Which is?"

Anna only smiled and put her hands on either side of his head so she could kiss him. They moved slowly, the steady drumbeats behind them providing the rhythm of their bodies as they moved together. The writhing and buck of their bodies together had John groaning into Anna's mouth as his erection rose and thickened at the feel of her skin over him. She did not respond, only slid her body down his to kiss along his jaw and neck in time to the whimpers as his fingers dragged over her skin.

He searched to find a hold and Anna allowed him the time he needed to touch her, massage her breasts, sculpt at her hips, and then try and get lower. But she kept out of reach, distracting him with her nails as they scraped their way down his chest. John's head went back and Anna could not stop herself kissing over the arch, licking at the indentations of his skin for good measure, before moving lower.

The hair scraped and rubbed at her, leaving red on her skin but she sank her fingers into it like she might a furred rug. Her kisses followed the natural trail of hair and led her further and further down. When her hips pushed his legs apart, John looked up but Anna soothed him with a kiss she leaned forward to leave on his lips. He relaxed into it until her hand wrapped around his base.

As she squeezed and pulled, the buck of his hips hit her stomach but Anna kept her hold firm and controlled. A hold she then intensified when she broke away from his lips to kiss his tip. Her other hand kneaded over the muscles of his thighs, tickled at his tightening abdomen, and then fondled lower to feel over his sack.

John's strangled moan had his fingers digging into the strong weave of the mat under him and then trying to curl into her hair. The pins there loosened and fell out, falling forgotten and abandoned on the floor of the hut, but Anna did not mind. With her hands occupied it was left to her mouth and tongue and teeth to send him over the edge.

She licked a stripe up the underside and then back down the other. Her tongue darted out to taste him, sending him to gasp and moan when he could not anticipate her next target. Or, when she edged into the slit or under the hood, she could not keep back her satisfied smile at his strangled cries. Each motion of her mouth sent him closer and closer to the edge until she finally took him as deeply as she could manage and sucked.

The sound he emitted was more animal than man and he tried to stop her. Tried to get a grip on her shoulders and drag her away. Tried to bring her toward him but Anna refused. She teased and taunted, licked and laved, tugged and teethed until John could not hold himself back any longer. With one last grunt, he came.

Anna finished him, leaving a gentle kiss where he would not twitch with sensitivity, and climbed up over him again. He could barely keep his eyes open and sweat did not bead on his brow, it dripped back into his hair. Under her, his chest rose and fell so swiftly if she rested on it she might have been at risk of falling off. But Anna stayed on her knees, looking down at him.

When her hands touched his face, pushing back his hair, John turned to her. "You didn't let me finish with you."

"It was my gift, as your wife." Anna pushed his hair back again, looking down at him. "I wanted to give you that."

"Why?"

"Because you need to know how loved you are, John." She bent her head, whispering to him before kissing his lips. "I'd do anything for you."

"And I for you." John held her legs and tugged her forward over the mat, almost hard enough to burn across her knees. "So let me?"

"Let you-"

But Anna did not have time to finish. John's hands moved from her legs to hold at her hips and he lowered her down to his mouth. His tongue worked as efficiently and carefully as hers had, leaving Anna gasping in her own right. One of her hands grabbed at his hair, guiding him with touches and holds while her hips twisted and gyrated to the invitations of his mouth. Her other hand took one of his from her hips and guided it up to her breasts where he caressed and fondled with all the delicacy he could manage. A delicacy he continued when his other hand slipped to use his fingers in time with his teeth.

In almost no time at all, especially with his tongue sweeping about her clit to suck it into his mouth, Anna climaxed. Her screech of pleasure echoed through the hut and she was sure those still at the fire heard her. But she was beyond caring. Beyond anything with her body feeling limp and boneless.

So boneless she almost did not notice John's readiness. He helped her to the mat, moving over her and raising one of her legs with a gentle hand. With one push he slipped in as deeply as he could go and they moaned together. Their lips met again and the rhythm of the distant drums set them going.

Anna tried, at one point, to flip them and take the lead. And, for a moment, John let her. Allowed her to sit up right and ride him like the queen he saw before him. To take her pleasure and manipulate him with one hand behind her to grasp and tease at his sack again while his hands moved over her body.

But once she came that way, sweating and smiling in her hoarse shout of pleasure, John flipped them over and rutted into her. She arched her back, head supporting her neck and in perfect symmetry John kissed over her neck before lavishing her breasts with the attentions of his mouth. Her fingers raked through his hair, turning herself into him as his speed increased.

The mat slipped under them, bunching and sliding over the ground at the force of John's thrusts, but neither could find enough space in their minds to care. All that mattered was them, in that moment, and they sought it to completion. John's fingers snaked between them and helped tease Anna over the edge again before he came with his head buried at her shoulder.

They slumped together, using the minimum of energy to sort out the mat beneath them, and lay together. The heat of the night finally reached them and Anna pushed past her exhaustion to try and steady her breathing. Half-turning to John, she stroked over his face and smiled at him.

He kissed her fingers, his hand holding at her elbow. "I love you, Anna May Smith Bates."

"And I love you, John Bates." They kissed again and John looked toward the door.

"I guess we didn't get any visitors."

"That we saw." Anna warned and they laughed.

"You were rather busy having your way with me."

"And you," Anna tickled at him but John caught her hands in his. "Were rather busy helping me have it three times."

"Each one was a pleasure." He sighed, unsticking a strand of hair from her face to try and put it back in her mussed hair. "I'll spend the rest of my life making you happy Anna."

"So will I." Anna took her turn trying to push back his hair as well. "We will take care of one another, won't we?"

"To the ends of our lives." John settled back. "Though, if you've any interest in doing this again we'll need sleep first. I can't manage again without it."

She laughed, getting as close to him as they dared in the heat.

* * *

John frowned at the page and placed it on another pile, handing it over to Carson. "These need review. I don't trust my eyes at this point. All the writing's just dancing before my eyes right now."

"Must be because you've been away for a few days." Carson took the pages, reading over them. "They're not good news."

'Any more attacks on the men or the mine?"

"Nothing overt. A few scuffles in town that I think were provoked, and we're definitely feeling the brunt of an inspection force slowly falling under the thumb of Misters Carlisle and Bricker."

"Bloody wankers." John sat back in his chair, putting a hand through his hair. "This is a poor time to leave you alone here while Mr. Crawley and I head inland."

"I'm proficient enough that I think I can manage in the meantime. Besides," Carson shrugged, shuffling the papers together. "We need what you're getting. Any more delay and the company'll make Mr. Crawley bend to the collective will of Carlisle and Bricker and I'd rather die than allow those men to gain control of this mine or that compound."

"You'd open a vein for that family." John laughed, pushing himself to stand. "But I understand loyalty and I agree with it, wholeheartedly."

"Thank you Mr. Bates." Carson nodded his head and then looked toward the door as someone knocked on it. "I think I'd best get these orders out and leave you to finish preparing for your trip."

"Thank you Mr. Carson." John called, turning to his desk for only a moment until he recognized the voice at the door. "Anna?"

"I'm sorry but you forgot something this morning." Anna came into the office, waving at Mr. Carson before shutting the door.

"What?"

"That I'm on duty tonight and won't be back before you leave tomorrow morning." Her fingers flipped the lock on the door and flipped the slats to shut out most of the light. "So I wanted to send you off properly before you leave."

"Anna," John swallowed, "Matthew could be back at any moment."

"I doubt that since Mary hinted she had similar designs for his lunch hour." Anna slid over to John's desk. "We've got a bit."

"And if Carson comes back?"

"Then he'll just have to wait." She sat on the edge of his desk and John finally noticed she wore a wide skirt instead of her normal trousers.

"Where is your uniform?"

"I thought I'd make life a bit easier for us, for once." Anna held her hand out to him. "Will you keep me waiting all day?"

John put his hands on either side of her on the desk and leaned into her kiss. Anna's hands came up to cup his face, guiding their lips before sneaking her tongue between his teeth. His hands came up to hold at he neck and he deepened their kiss.

Anna's legs spread in her skirt and one of John's hands came down, resting on her thigh. With each increased caress of their lips and as her fingers speared into his hair, John slid up her leg to search for her knickers. But he had to break the kiss when he did not find them.

Turning to Anna, words failing him as he met the darkness in her eyes. "As I said, I wanted to make it all a bit easier for us."

John failed an arm behind him and dragged his chair closer so he could sit down. Ignoring the frown on Anna's face, he pulled her to the edge of the desk and attacked her with his lips and tongue under her skirt. Anna tipped back, catching herself much the same way she had when he performed a similar action on her desk in the field hospital. In no time at all, under the urgent and frantic motions that had her writhing and sending his papers skidding over his desk, John felt the muscles of Anna's vaginal walls clamping over his fingers and finished his licking suck of her clit.

He pulled back and opened his trousers faster than he thought possible with his mind racing. Anna reached up, one of her hands coming to rest on the back of his neck, and pulled him to her lips again as her legs found his hips. She tried to bring him forward but it was John's hand at her ass that held her in place to join them.

He kissed any part of her skin he could reach, some of it restricted by her blouse but he kissed over it all the same. Their movements pushed his desk against the floor with a groan but with Anna throwing herself toward him and his body shouting to pound as energetically as he could in response, John could not find it in him to care. He simply added his hand to where they joined and hissed when he accidently brushed against himself when he sought to rub her over the edge.

Like a flash of the lightning she could bring in her passion, they finished. John rested his forehead against hers, kissing at her lips and cheeks before he withdrew and collapsed onto his chair. Anna sat up, grinning at him as she licked her lips. He frowned and then looked down, noticing his trousers and pants were still pushed toward his knees.

Reaching for them, John stopped when Anna put her hands on his. "Don't."

"Why not?"

"Because I want to do something." She knelt down, "I promise you'll enjoy it."

"If you're intending on having your way with me again-"

"Of course I am." Anna stroked over him and John jerked. "I'm sorry, I forgot how sensitive you are."

John grabbed at the seat of his chair when she took him into her mouth. He squirmed and bucked in her grip but her nails dug into his exposed thighs to keep him still before returning to their former occupations trying to tease him. And when John felt himself rising again he reached for Anna.

Unlike their wedding night, Anna responded and let off with a pop. She lay a final kiss on him before puling her skirt up high enough to allow her to sink down on him. His fingers tightened in the fabric of her skirt bunched by her hip and thrust into her.

Anna held at John's shoulders, riding him with bobbing rotations that sank him deeper and deeper the wider she spread her legs around him. Their lips met again and John swept up her back to bring her closer to him. They moved together, breaking only to breathe but they looked into one another's eyes.

John paused, staring at Anna as his other hand snuck under her skirt to send her over the edge. She bit her lip to keep quiet, her eyes fluttering closed, and John let himself go. All the while he watched as Anna slowly came down her high and he reached his.

They held one another close, holding fast as their bodies settled, and finally Anna pushed herself backward. With a reach into his pocket, she cleaned them both enough to be presentable and helped John appear professional again. She put a hand to his face, rubbing her thumb over his skin before pulling him down for a final kiss.

"I wish you didn't have to go."

"So do I." He assured her, accompanying her to the door. "But it's what we need to make this place safer and that's what we want."

"I know." Anna interlaced their fingers, smiling when John kissed over them. "I just wish you didn't have to be the one to do it."

"I'll be back before you know it."

"Three weeks'll seem like an eternity."

"But they'll pass in a moment, I promise." John turned the slats on the door up and unlocked it. "Now I'm sure there are people waiting for you and, if you don't go, then there'll be some nasty rumors about me."

"Will they call you names?" Anna put a hand to her mouth and John tried to scowl at her joking attitude about it. "Will they call me names?"

"Perhaps."

"I couldn't care about that." She smiled at him, "We've been through so much, you and I, so this'll be enough."

"You're enough for me." John kissed her forehead, "Now go, before we give Mr. Carson a reason to have a heart attack."

John watched Anna go, blowing her a kiss when she reached the bottom of the stairs of the office, and following her until she was lost in the trees.


	15. Walking on Broken Glass

Anna removed the thermometer and glared at it. The mother, holding her little girl close, widened her eyes and nodded at Anna's hand. "That doesn't mean good things."

"It's just higher than I'd like and means she's picked up an infection." Anna held out her arms and then lifted the girl to lay her on a mat over the floor. "Has she had any cuts or scrapes lately?"

"Not that I've seen."

"Alright." Anna examined over the girl and then paused, "Was she… cut, recently?"

"Of course." The woman blinked at Anna, "You know what we do."

"And I also warned you to sterilize the tools before you did it." Anna turned to the girl. "Could you spread your legs for me please?"

The girl did so and Anna investigated the area before sighing, "She's got an infection. Did you soak the instruments in boiling water for ten minutes?"

"There wasn't time for that."

"That's…" Anna stopped herself. "I'm giving her a round of antibiotics and you'll have to make sure she washes the area with soap and hot water. After I redo this."

"That's not right." The mother tried to stop Anna but Anna held up a hand.

"I'm not taking it away. I need to redo the stitching before it goes septic and kills her."

Anna pulled out her instruments and began the process. When she finished the stitches where small, neat, and the area was clean. It still throbbed an ugly red color but Anna reached into her bag and pulled out a pair of small knickers. The girl tried to shake her head, to say she did not need them but Anna insisted.

"It'll protect the stitches until I'm ready to remove them and keep you from getting sick again. It's only for a few days." The girl took the knickers and Anna handed a bottle to the mother. "Two of these a day until the bottle's empty. Moreover, make sure you wash and clean the instruments before and after so you don't injure anyone else. Yes?"

The mother nodded and took the bottle. "Yes Miss Anna."

"Thank you." Anna stood, "And I'll be back in three days to take out her stitches."

Leaving the hut, she climbed into the jeep where Anu finished making a note in his book. He turned to her, "All well?"

"I wish they'd all stop that horrible practice of cutting their girls."

"To each their own."

"Religiously I understand the sentiment but I just… can't they at least clean the instruments they use?"

"It's a process Anna." He started up the jeep, turning toward the compound. "They think it's best."

"Maybe." Anna chewed on her finger. "Why don't you go to England and become a certified doctor? Why stay here as my eternal assistant?"

"Because I'm not here to be a doctor."

"Why are you here?"

"To help you."

Anna shrugged, "Do what, exactly?"

"I don't know. But when I've done it then I'll be allowed to go back to where I came from." Anu winked at her. "Don't worry about me. You've got enough on your plate as it is."

She frowned, "Did Wasimbu talk to you?"

"He mentioned one of his rain queens making a comment about darkness following you."

"And what'll you do about that?"

"Nothing since it's not my purview."

Anna snorted, "You've got an odd set of rules."

"Don't I just?" Anu shrugged, "But all I know is what I'm not allowed to do and that whatever reason brought me here has yet to actually happen."

"So, in theory, you could be here forever?" Anna grinned at him but Anu shrugged off the taunt.

"Possibly but it's my duty and I fulfill it the best I can."

"I think you do an admirable job of it." Anna put a hand on his, squeezing there a moment before sitting back in her seat. "And thank you for those herbs last week. They made it all a right bit less terrible to endure."

"Are the pains truly that horrible?"

Anna wiggled her shoulders, "It only lasts a day. The blood is what takes a bit longer to finish."

"But it's… over?"

Anna laughed, "For a man who's been working medicine out here in the bush for my entire life and longer, the idea that you can't refer to a woman's monthlies without getting all overcome is almost too hilarious."

"It's not something we discuss amongst men."

"Women don't usually talk about it either." Anna climbed out of the jeep, grabbing her bag. "But it is what it is."

"And I haven't had to deal with it because none of the women see me about that. They all insist on seeing you." Anu pointed at her over the jeep, pulling his own bag loose. "Just like none of the men will confide in you when they're not exactly feeling as up to it as they'd like to be."

"Maybe one day we'll trust one another with the details of our personal and gender-specific necessities." Anna stopped, closing her eyes and slapping a palm to her forehead. "Speaking of which, I promised I'd go see someone about that."

"What?"

"There's an older girl, living with her grandmother, in one of the villages and she's not taking well to the realization that it's a monthly commitment unless you're pregnant or pre-adolescent."

"Do you want me to drive you?"

"No, it's just a walk up the road and I'll be back before it's dark anyway." Anna waved him off, "Get those reports from today and make a note about that girl I visited. We need to check on her infection and the stitches in a few days to make sure she's not gotten worse."

"I'll leave the notes on your desk."

"Thank you."

Anna hurried to the village and found the girl rather easily. The conversation, however, did not go as easily and when she finally left Anna wanted nothing more than to go back to the field hospital and sleep off her frustrations. Her walk on the path, shadowed from the setting sun by the large trees and comforted by the sounds of the jungle about her, kept her focused on her destination.

Then something snapped and the jungle about her went quiet. She stopped, frowning and narrowing her eyes as she started a scan of the path she walked so many times she could do it blindfolded in the dark. But as she turned on her heel something hit her in the back of the head.

Anna stumbled forward, blinking away the pain exploding from her skull, and tried to stand. But a weight settled on her, pulling her to turn and then throwing her back toward the ground so her back hit hard and all the air evacuated her lungs. She gasped for air and barely made out the shadowed figure above her before it yanked her upright and over a shoulder. Anna kicked and flailed but her mind could not comprehend how to address the situation and her vision darkened to blackness.

When she finally blinked her eyes open a smell invaded her nostrils. It fogged her brain and Anna could not focus her thoughts for more than a moment at a time. She forced her thoughts to settle enough to gain a view of her surroundings and then closed her eyes again to try and settle the throbbing at the base of her skull. A voice speaking to her from just beyond her vision had her cracking her eyes to see who might be there. But with her vision so impaired she could not make out the owner of the voice.

"I thought, 'it can't be true because she wants me' but then I see your hand and I wonder if it's true."

Anna scrunched her eyes, trying not to breathe whatever cloying scent wafted toward her on the breeze, and managed a hoarse whisper. "What?"

"Oh, you're awake." The figure moved closer to her and the hands at her face pawed slightly at her skin. "I thought you might be out for hours and then where would I be?"

Anna forced her eyes open and then swallowed back the jolt of abject terror at the sight of the man before her. Green, his hair matted and sticking out from all angles as if formed and fitted there with mud and other substances, had his streaked and dirty face close enough to hers that the pungent and fetid nature of his breath drove the choking incense from the fire from her mind. Anna seized that moment and gathered a wind, twisting it enough to move the smoke away from her so her mind could clear all the more.

"Ah, I know what you're doing." He danced away from her and took one of the burning branches, holding it close to Anna's nose to suffocate her on the fumes until she coughed and gagged. "You wouldn't believe what I discovered in Ms. Braithwaite's brain. When she thought she was only balancing my mind she didn't realize I knew how to scurry into hers. I learned some of her skills."

Green ducked his head, "I wanted to impress you."

"Did you?" Anna coughed and hacked, trying to find fresh air in the funk of aromas surrounding her. "Why?"

"I thought that was obvious." He dropped the branch, the wet earth smoldering the flames instantly until they died with a hiss and Anna could breathe a bit more freely. "I'm in love with you Anna."

"This isn't love." Anna finally had the strength of mind to try and stand but something bound her to the tree she now noticed rubbed against her back with its rough bark. "This… Why am I tied up?"

"I thought you might leave," Green came toward her again, his uniform from the hospital in tatters and his cloth shoes just strands and strips hanging from his ankles to show muddied and bloodied feet. "I couldn't have you leave before I told you what I feel."

"I'm aware of how you feel." Anna pulled against her bonds, noting by the noise and stretch he chose vines he knotted himself. She clacked her teeth together at the back of her mouth and blew like a hiss until Green turned to her. Ceasing immediately Anna still noted, through the light of the now drifting fire, skittering at the edge of her vision. "And I thought you were aware of how I felt."

"I'm hoping to change your mind."

"This isn't how you do it." Anna tugged against her bonds to distract Green with the noise as large ants crawled toward her and then up the tree, their pincers cutting persistently on the vines.

"It's the only way." Green held his hands out from his body and Anna blinked at him.

"What did she do to you when she 'fixed' your mind?"

"She made me see more clearly." He pointed at her with a soiled and stained hand. "She opened my eyes to the kinds of things you do and now I know how to counter you. I can work with you."

Anna's mouth fell open, "You're the dark thing in the jungle they've all been warning me about aren't you?"

Green ducked his head, as if embarrassed a girl at school had noticed his immature attempts at gaining her affections. "I'd hoped you'd investigate yourself and we could've avoided all of this."

"Because you want me?" Anna ground her teeth together, letting out a low whistle she hoped would drive the ants a bit faster.

"Because I need you Anna." He slid in the dirt between her legs, grabbing at her shoulders and yanking her toward him. "Don't you see? You can't be with him. He'll never understand you. Even if you explained it to him for the rest of your lives and no matter how much he would claim he doesn't care he does. He will care and it'll drive you apart."

"Who are you talking about?"

"Him!" Green practically snarled and threw Anna back so her back bounced painfully on the tree behind her. "The man you married instead of me."

"John?" Anna's eyes widened and Green turned away from her, scratching at something on his back. In the dim light Anna could see the lesions and rash forming over his back and opened her mouth to speak. "Mr. Green, how long have you had those?"

"Had what?" He turned, the shreds of his shirt dangling from him to show they continued over his torso and under the waistband of his barely-there trousers.

"Those lesions and sores."

"It doesn't matter." He shook himself, as if removing the question. "They're nothing."

"They're not nothing. That's advanced stage syphilis." Anna paused, "Who gave that to you?"

"What's it matter?"

"Because when I put you in that hospital after you tried to kill yourself you didn't have it but then…" Anna stopped, closing her eyes as her clearer mind remembered. "You did have it then. It's why you insisted on sleeping in those ridiculously hot pajamas. You didn't want me to see the evidence of it."

"So what?"

"It's why you're suffering the way you are." Anna strained against her bond, feeling the pull increase as the ants continued to bite and saw away at it. "It wasn't just your drinking that got in the way of the herbs I gave you. The syphilis would've advanced the mental degradation. It's why you're not well now."

"I'm as clear as I've ever been." He slapped a hand at his chest and Anna shook her head.

"No, you're not well and you need medicine or you'll die."

"Then find some here." Green opened his arms, turning a circle as if to show her the jungle where they were. "There's solutions all around for someone like you. Isn't that right?"

"Not for this. We need arsenic and penicillin. We're not going to get that out here." Anna tugged again, covering the sound of a snap with her raised voice. "Let me take you back to the field hospital and-"

"No!" He tugged at his hair as if he wanted to yank a hunk of it out by the roots. "I'm not going back there where you'll just lock me up in a room again."

"It's not like that-"

"You want to drag me back there like an animal to show off to your husband like a prize." Green was in her face again and Anna struggled to clear the rest of her mind so she could access her skills. But the wind had changed again and the blow to her head pulsed painfully, blocking her thoughts. "I won't do it. I won't let you take me there."

"Then let me go and I'll bring the medicine back for you."

Green laughed, shaking his head back and forth. "You must think I'm mad to allow you to leave. When I have you and it was hard enough to get here now. I've waited weeks for this."

"But you are mad, Mr. Green. Don't you see that you're not in your right mind?" Anna focused on the vines around her so much she did not see the slap.

It knocked her head against the tree, sending another bloom of pain through her skull while shaking her enough to unsettle her inner ear. Her vision wavered and she blinked rapidly but that only raised nausea in her throat. Swallowing back the urge to vomit, Anna hauled in deep breaths of the air she could manage and endured the inhalation of the incensed fire into her lungs.

"I'm not mad." He hissed in her ear, tugging at her hair to make sure she stared into his eyes. "I'm perfectly sane."

Anna could not manage a response so he let her head drop.

"It's you who's mad. You're wearing his rings. You took his name. You took him to your bed." He cackled a bit, "Don't think I wasn't there when you entered that hut together and told the village what you were doing. Don't think I didn't hear."

Anna closed her eyes, breathing shallowly to try and filter out the smoke, and rocked her body forward in a steady pattern to pull at the loosening vines as he continued.

"And then… when you went to wish him farewell." Green's voice took on a hard edge. "How could you presume to prefer that broken old cripple to me?"

Ann turned her gaze up at him, anger finally rising enough to clear her mind from the pain and shunt it to the side in favor of a stronger emotion. She bawled her fists and her chest rose up and down with the increase in her breathing. "Presume? I know that I prefer him to you."

"He can't make you happy." Green crouched before her, a fleeting moment allowed an expression of uncertainty to cross his face as if his mind could not handle or comprehend the concept of what she might say next. "A man like him can't make you happy."

A small voice at the back of Anna's mind, sounding awfully similar to Anu's, whispered caution. But Anna's anger and the spirit of the violent and primal jungle thundered in her veins so she spit back. "Can't he? You heard us. Did I sound happy to you? I wasn't quiet so I'm sure you couldn't have mistaken what those sounds meant."

Green's hand flew toward her face again, the rage in his eyes matching the volume of it in her voice, but Anna caught his hand. The wines snapped as she lurched forward and tackled the unbalanced man to the ground. He tried to fight her off but the animals in them both were now unleashed. Freed to kick and claw and bite and scratch at one another until Anna managed to pull both of her knees to her chest and kick out with enough force to send Green backward.

He tumbled head over heels in the dirt, almost singing himself on the fire as he rolled past it, and landed in an undignified heap. Anna scrambled to her feet, head still slightly fogged, and ran into the jungle. She scraped at the trees, turning over roots and leaping fallen logs to try and find her way back to the path. In a few moments she put herself toward it, finding the directions she knew well and angling that way with every duck and turn.

But something tackled her midriff and Anna hit the ground hard. She tried to fight back, tried to regain her feet, but a stinging blow to her cheek shocked her balance and she hit the ground. Her shoulder took the weight of her fall and the pain shot up toward her head, only adding to the general fraying of her system. Her arms flailed but they were batted away and with each sting of claws at her body Anna slipped closer and closer toward a beckoning blackness.

Somehow she managed to keep herself from falling over the edge and shifted. The weight on her back slid slightly and Anna wrestled free. It tried to keep her down but she stumbled away. Within a few paces she tripped and put out her hands to stop herself falling on her face. Scrabbling hands grabbed at her fallen trousers, the dark thought at the edge of her mind thrust away as violently as she kicked at the dark shape trying to follow her. A rush of air and the connection of her boot to soft tissue told her she winded her pursuer before she dashed into the jungle.

The paths and the animals spoke to her, whispered over her terror and pain and fear to guide her back to the road. Anna found it, tripping into the dusty, rocky surface hard enough to skin her hands. But she found her feet, grabbing her trousers and finally doing up her belt tight enough to notice her trousers rested on bare skin now. She slipped, catching herself on a bloody hand, and the other went to cover her mouth.

Collapsing on the path, she choked out a cry and dissolved into barely muffled sobs. Shouts and bobbing lights came toward her and Anna went to run again but hands wrapped at her shoulders and a voice she recognized called to her. "It's alright Anna. It's me."

She buried her face in the man's shoulder and cried. He held her close, calling over her, "It's alright. I found her."

"Anu," Anna clung to his shirt, pulling his close so she could hiss in his ear past her tears. "Don't let them know. Don't let anyone but you see me. Promise me no one will know."

"Know what Anna?"

But words failed her. Her body failed her. Her strength failed her. And Anna collapsed into Anu's arms.


	16. I'm a Stranger Here Myself

Anna turned her eyes to the ceiling, refusing to look at Anu as he finished the exam. When he finally moved the light to the side and drew the blanket back over her naked body, Anna turned to him. "Well?"

"It's as bad as you think." Anu removed the gloves from his hands. "You're definitely infected with syphilis."

She nodded, sitting up and holding the blanket to her, refusing to remain in her previous position. Refusing to be vulnerable. "Does anyone else know?"

"Mrs. Hughes will when I request the herbs I need to go with the arsenic and penicillin treatment I'm starting you on immediately."

"But no one else?"

"All anyone else knows is that you were found by a madman in the jungle." Anu put his hands on the table, staring down at it before turning his face to Anna. "They're still looking for Green you know."

"Alright." Anna wrapped the blanket around herself and got off the table, walking a bit more gingerly on her sore feet as her body complained about movement with the multitude of bruises dotting her skin. "I'm sure that'd be more of a comfort if they actually found anything but I know they didn't."

"Not for lack of trying but the jungle's dense and-"

"And I hope he gets torn apart by something horrible." Anna put a hand on the wall, holding herself steady before going back behind the same screen she used to give her patients their privacy. Only now it's in her private rooms. Like the examination table. And Anu. "Something with teeth and temper. Like a leopard."

"Anna-"

"Don't!" Anna held up a warning finger, gritting her teeth past a jolt of pain before sliding behind the screen. "Don't."

"I'm only saying you could find him in a heartbeat if you wanted to."

Anna paused on the other side of the screen, still holding the blanket with one hand and her undergarments with the other. "Are you saying I don't want him found?"

"I'm saying that perhaps you hope he's killed by nature or succumbs to his illness before you have to risk anyone finding out about what he did to you."

"Would that be so terrible?"

"No but we should find him before he hurts someone else." Anu's voice was close to the screen and Anna risked a look up from puling on her trousers to see his outline there. "He could be attacking villagers, Anna. They deserve to know and to be warned about him. About what he carries."

"About what I carry, you mean." Anna pulled her shirt savagely from the peg and buttoned it up with a swift ferocity that had her out from behind the screen in a moment. "And I know what you're about to say."

"Mr. Bates comes back tomorrow and he deserves to know what happened. To be warned about it in case he-"

"What?" Anna tried to keep her anger at the surface so the pain would subside again but it struggled to overcome her. "In case he wants to kiss me? Or touch me? Or take me to bed? In case he needs to know that I'm forever scared and ruined for him? In case I need to tell him about how a mad man of my own creation emerged from the jungle to take me hostage and then proceeded to…"

Anna could not finished and she wiped savagely at her eyes. She shook her head, backing away from Anu's hands. "Whatever you think I should tell John you're wrong. I can't tell him. I can't tell anyone."

"And what happens when he comes back tomorrow and wonders why his wife won't speak to him, much less look at him?" Anu folded his arms over his chest. "What then?"

"Let me worry about that."

"I can't." Anna stopped, her hand on the door to leave her rooms and go out into the ward.

She pivoted to look at him, "Excuse me?"

"I can't just let you worry about it because I'm here for you. As your friend, as your aid, as-"

"A bloody annoying spirit who wouldn't save my mother and now decides he knows best?" Anna fired back, stalking toward him. "You think you know better because you answer to a higher power and you're sent here for a reason but I think you're just as lost and afraid and confused as the rest of us. You act like you've a bloody clue what you're doing but you're in the dark as deeply as we are."

Anu did not flinch. "I never claimed any higher knowledge but if there's one thing I do know for sure, it's that I'm here for you, Anna. I'm here to help you."

"Help me do what?" Anna opened her arms. "Not avoid what's going on now that's for bloody sure."

"Help you through this."

Anna scoffed, "If you've got some line about 'veil of tears' then I'll give you explicit instructions on where you can shove those thoughts as hard as you can ram them up your own ass."

"I don't have platitudes for you Anna. Act as if you know me at all."

They stared one another down until Anna dropped her gaze first. "I… I can't tell him, Anu. He can't ever know."

"And what's he going to say when you won't even touch him?"

"I don't know but even if I wanted to touch him I can't until you cure me of this."

Anu put a hand to his forehead, fingers pulling at the fabric of his carefully wrapped turban. "If I do it could cause lasting health effects. The chances of you suffering some degradation of body and mind are high."

"I'm not waiting Anu. If we let the disease get a hold inside me then I'll be as mad as Green was."

"He had it festering in his system for a year. A year where he was also half-mad from taking a risk with medicines he didn't understand and a practice he didn't respect." Anu snorted, "Not to mention he allowed that woman inside his head and then he traveled into hers. He played with dark forces and they played back. His madness was the result of a series of events that aren't ahead for you."

"No matter how he found his madness it's still a risk with the disease and I won't allow it to take my mind."

Anu bit his lip, "If I treat you with arsenic you have a high change of…"

"I know what the effects of arsenic are on the reproductive organs, Anu." Anna took a breath, "And I'm willing to face them."

"But is John?"

"John would want me well, the consequences be damned."

"Then how do you plan to tell John that's why you'll never have children?" Anu pressed and Anna refused to meet his gaze. "Because if you refuse to tell him about what happened then we'll spend the rest of his life wondering why you're not able to have children. What will you tell him?"

"I'll tell him it was incompetent cervix." Anna pointed at Anu, "I'm sure that's what I heard you say when you made a note of it in your exam."

Anu hung his head, "I did find that and I'm sure it's another result of Mr. Green's actions."

"Hence the wish that a leopard could rip into his body with vicious teeth."

"But incompetent cervix is reparable, Anna. I could do it here if I needed."

"John doesn't know that."

"They'd be his children too, Anna." Anu flailed finally, "You're denying him the right to children."

"I'm giving myself the right to live."

"And I'm not saying we do this at risk to your life, Anna." Anu put a hand on her shoulder but removed it almost immediately when she flinched. "I'm saying we should keep in mind that there might be other ways."

"Not as effective ways."

"But they exist."

"Anu," Anna's voice cut down whatever further argument he might have managed, killing it in his throat. "I want you to start the treatment immediately."

Anu sighed, "I'll get everything I need as quickly as possible and we'll begin this evening if you'd like."

"I think that'd be best."

Anna went about her day, body stiff and sore but moving the way she needed it to, and visited the villages. They noticed her bruised and battered visage but no one mentioned it. Wasimbu was the only one brave enough to comment and Anna tried to smile her gratitude at his words.

"Thank you but I'm well."

"But perhaps you are not so well as you think, Ms. Anna." He reached out a hand but she backed away. "I was the one who found your bag on the road. I know that you did not drop it there carelessly."

"What is it you think you know?" Anna fingered the handles to her bag, looking the worse for wear after her ambush on the road.

"I think you were attacked by the darkness. That is found you and now flows through you."

"Unfortunately it's not something you get sweat out of me or get removed by your spirits since the darkness was not darkness."

"Such a darkness cannot be fought alone."

"It has to be fought alone." Anna pushed herself away from him, back toward her jeep. "And I will."

"This is not so simple. One cannot battle when they are not strong."

Anna stopped, frowning. "Are you saying I'm not strong?"

"Not without your other side. What you are fighting will overwhelm you unless you allow another to share your pains. Allow someone to fight beside you."

"Like you?' Anna climbed into her seat, "You already rejected that chance so I'd rather you not deign to give me advice on how I should handle this. Especially when you don't even know what this is."

"It doesn't matter if I know. It matters if John knows. He's the other have that will help you carry the burden before you."

"I think I can manage it just fine on my own." Anna put her jeep in gear and drove away from the village.

She ascended the stairs to the field hospital and shut the door, locking it from the inside before setting her bag on the desk. Anu looked up only briefly from the circle he drew on the floor in chalk. Anna walked over to it, inspecting the details for a moment, and then went into her room.

There, alone with her thoughts, Anu's reasoning bubbled up in the back of her mind. But Anna shoved it down, removing her clothes to find one of the long swathes of fabric. She wrapped it around her, knotting it tightly to hold it in place over her shoulder, and went back out to the silent ward.

Anu stepped back from his work, pulling the contents of his bag toward him. He burrowed in there before removing a few different implements and something he crushed into the pot he had bubbling on the little burner. Anna took her seat, cross-legged, and waited as Anu finished his portion of the activities. He sat across from her, holding the steaming pot in his hands, and then set it on the floor between them.

Meeting her eyes, Anu took a deep breath. "You do realize that is even a moment of what we're about to do goes wrong it'll kill you, yes?"

"I watched my mother do this before. It's not the most difficult thing I've ever done." Anna reached out her hands but Anu held the pot back. "Don't be a child, Anu."

"This will kill you, Anna. That's how it works. It kills you to cleanse you and then you hope to find your way back."

"And you don't think I'll find my way back?"

"I don't think you should take the risk on something that'll take your life."

"So will the syphilis if it gets into my system. But not before it takes my mad and leaves me raving and mad." Anna took a deep breath of her own, "I refuse to allow either of those outcomes. Not if I have a breath left in my body to stop them."

"What if not all of you comes back?"

Anna did not meet Anu's eyes, "Then you need to do what's necessary to make sure nothing else came back in my place."

"Anna-"

"Anu," She lifted a warning finger, "Swear you won't let something else slip into my body. If I don't come back then nothing comes back at all."

He nodded and handed the pot to Anna. She closed her eyes, breathing in time with the swirl of the fumes she inhaled as deeply as she could, and tipped it to her lips. At the same time she drank it down she felt a prick on her arm and the injection of the arsenic.

Anna dropped the pot, her body immediately seizing and falling into a fit of spasms. She barely noticed, the shadow of Anu moving over her as her body tipped forward into the confines of the circle the only thing she even noted before her eyes closed. And then there was nothing.

* * *

 _Anna blinked, white mist shrouding around her, and she raised a hand. It fell through the smoke as if she were the insubstantial substance and not the smoke about her. With a frown she tried to gain a sense of herself, the basic realization that her limbs and body were connected but even that seemed beyond her ability. Instead she just heard the beat of her own heart and the race of her thoughts._

 _Laughter had Anna pivoting in place, searching for the source. She narrowed her eyes when the laughter sounded again and tried to pinpoint the direction but the echoes had her turning in circles bound to drive her mad searching for the girl. But then, as if summoned by her helpless thought, the girl ran in front of her._

 _Taking whatever strength she could muster, Anna followed. Neither of them made a sound but for the girl's repeated loop of laughter and Anna's breathing as it echoed so loudly in her head. They pelted through the mist, moving as fast as they could and yet appearing as if they did not move at all, until Anna realized the girl vanished._

 _Without the laughter to guide here there was only silence again. A silence broken by a muffled murmur. Anna continued forward, toward a darkness that promised more definition than the shadows and smoke that held her now, and slowly she came to the edge of a room._

 _She examined the edges of it, darkness holding all but the corner before her away from her view. Anna crept forward, watching as a man tugged a blanket closer to his chest while a woman took a wet cloth to his head and something about the scene echoed in Anna's chest. She stepped forward and her foot creaked on a board. The same board where her foot always creaked. Anna's head shot up as the little girl ran right through her, toward he bed holding the man, and clutched at his hand._

 _The little girl was young. Even from a distance Anna could see her legs struggled to keep her body high enough to see the man's face over the edge of the bed. But it was the hair that drew Anna's gaze. The hair that matched the man's for fairness and the woman's for length. Hair the woman combed her fingers through while her other attentions rested solely on the man in the bed._

 _Anna covered her mouth, shaking her head violently as if she could shake the scene from her mind, but it remained petulantly stable. The man's voice, clear now that the distance and the smoke could not obscure it, struck at Anna's heart. She wanted to block it out, to leave the room, but she found herself rooted to the spot as the man addressed the little girl._

 _"_ _Your Papa has to go away for a while. To get better."_

 _"_ _But Mama'll make you better here." She insisted, the slightest of lilts to her accent as if fighting between two strongly inflected sets of vowels. "You need to stay here, with us."_

 _"_ _But if I don't go then I'll never get better."_

 _"_ _If you go we'll never see you again." The little girl tugged at his arm._

 _"_ _And why would you think that?" The older woman chided, "There's not danger in him leaving us here. We're his family."_

 _"_ _The ocean'll swallow you whole." The little girl continued, her grip still strong on the man's arm. "It'll make it so I never see you again."_

 _"_ _You're talking nonsense Anna." The woman turned over her shoulder and addressed someone Anna could not see. "Anu, please take Anna back to her rooms. I don't want her making her father weaker."_

 _Anu, appearing not a day older, came and scooped Anna into his arms. She fought against him, crying out for her father to stay, and Anna covered her face with her hands. When she looked again the scene changed._

 _It was her hospital. Or, what would become her hospital. Her mother sat there, in a circle much like the one Anu drew on the floor for Anna, and worked the small flame before her. It sputtered as the door opened but Anna's mother ignored the interruption and continued with her incantation."_

 _"_ _You need to stop this now." Anu tried to grab for her hand but she wrenched herself from his grip. "There's a reason this is forbidden."_

 _"_ _He's dying."_

 _"_ _Then let him die, it's the natural order of things."_

 _"_ _I can't do that." Anna recognized the pain in those eyes. "I can't watch from a distance as the man I love dies."_

 _"_ _But does he love you?" She would not meet Anu's gaze until he grabbed her hands. "Does he? Can you truly tell me he loves you? Or Anna?"_

 _"_ _He told me he did. He swore his heart to mine."_

 _"_ _And yet, in four years, he's never written you. He's not contacted you or made any preparation to return. He doesn't love you."_

 _"_ _You only say that because you know nothing of love."_

 _"_ _I know all there is to know about it." He fired back, trying to stop her continuing with her process but she dodged his attempts. "I've watched centuries of it and I know what you had wasn't love."_

 _"_ _Watched but never felt it. Never had it." There was a cruel gleam in Anna's mother's eyes. "You don't know what it is to watch your soul torn apart by the suffering of another. To endure pain because they are pained."_

 _"_ _And what of the pain Anna'll feel when she loses her mother like she did her father?"_

 _"_ _He'll come back for her. He won't abandon his child."_

 _"_ _He already has!" Anu finally managed to grab her hands again. "Stop this foolishness before you walk down a path from which you cannot turn back."_

 _"_ _I chose this path the moment his heart and mine touched."_

 _"_ _They never did." Anu dropped her hands, "He stole your heart and now he'll steal your life if you let him."_

 _"_ _No," She shook her head, "He won't betray me. He'd never betray me."_

 _And Anna watched as her mother began another incantation, her body writhing and swaying until it froze. In that moment all of the truths Anu spoke to her appeared in her eyes. She reached out for Anu but the moment their fingers touched she fell backward, her eyes now seeing nothing._

 _But then something moved._

 _The body stood up and yet did not. Anna looked between the still figure on the ground, the figure Anu covered with a cloth and then lifted from the floor to lay on a cot, and the one striding toward her. Anna flinched back slightly as the figure of her mother, dressed much as she was, stopped before Anna. She reached out a ghostly hand and Anna tried to avoid it but it settled on her shoulder._

 _Anna expected cold or clamminess and instead there was… nothing. It was no colder than the space about her with no more weight to it than a gentle breeze. Their eyes met and Anna tried to calm her breathing._

 _"_ _Who are you?"_

 _"_ _I would've thought that was obvious." The specter of her mother smiled. "We had nine years. Surely you do not forget my face."_

 _"_ _You're not my mother. She's dead."_

 _"_ _And so, for the moment, are you."_

 _Anna bit the inside of her cheek, refusing to concede the point. "What do you want?"_

 _"_ _I think the better question is what you want, Anna."_

 _"_ _I want to be free of this affliction."_

 _"_ _Of the disease that man gave you in his madness and his suffering?"_

 _"_ _His suffering?"_

 _"_ _Surely you saw the way his mind breaks with every moment he ignores the scream of the jungle to leave its confines forever."_

 _"_ _Of course I did. I tried to tell him that but he would not hear me."_

 _"_ _He is a creature past reason."_

 _"_ _Yes," Anna snorted, "A being of darkness that can't be seen but can be felt."_

 _"_ _That is what he became."_

 _"_ _As a result of his own actions."_

 _"_ _Then why do you feel responsible?"_

 _"_ _Because…" Anna stopped herself, "What does it matter what I feel?"_

 _"_ _Because if you feel responsible then the gods might keep you here as penance for your decisions." Her mother shrugged, "It's your choice."_

 _"_ _It was my choice and I thought I was doing the right thing but I didn't listen to Anu's warnings."_

 _Her mother laughed, "We've something in common."_

 _"_ _Not as much as you'd like to think." Anna scowled, "You refused to see what stared you in the face."_

 _"_ _And aren't you doing the same?" They faced one another, arms crossed identically across their chests. "Aren't you just as guilty of refusing to see what Anu would have you notice?"_

 _"_ _I'm not trying forbidden rituals."_

 _"_ _But you would deny yourself the aid and comfort of the man who gives you more power." Her mother smiled, "The man who allows you to bring the rain."_

 _Anna stopped, "Did you ever bring rain?"_

 _"_ _No." her mother shook her head, "I was never as powerful as you. I didn't have your skills or your drive or your training. More important than all of that though, I didn't have your anchor."_

 _"_ _My anchor?"_

 _"_ _The man you call yours keeps you connected. He grounds you away from those temptations that drive those like that woman in the hospital to dabble where they don't belong. They keep you on the path and open the powers you never knew you could bear."_

 _"_ _Like calling the rain?"_

 _"_ _Or the fog or the animals or the very jungle itself to do your bidding." Her mother grinned, putting a hand to Anna's face. "To see you in your element, calling on those powers… what a sight it would be to see."_

 _"_ _You could've seen it if you'd chosen me over him."_

 _Her mother dropped her hand, "I was foolish and desperate. I'd given my heart, my life, my virtue, and my reputation to a man I thought would return those things to me with care. I couldn't acknowledge my shame or my mistake. I failed you because I failed myself."_

 _"_ _And you think I'm failing myself?"_

 _"_ _I think you'll fail your husband if you'll keep this from him. Without him, you cannot call on those powers inherent to your being. They'll be locked away, forever, and you'll scrounge for the rest of your life to find them."_

 _"_ _What if I don't want them?"_

 _Her mother laughed, "There's nothing you want more. It's in your very bones. You need those powers to protect what's dear to you. But you'll fail if you reject him now."_

 _"_ _I can't face him. Not as I am."_

 _"_ _It is not a question of you facing him." Her mother walked backward, away from Anna. "It's a question of you facing yourself."_

 _"_ _What does that mean?" Anna tried to walk forward but found herself facing a mirror._

 _Her put out a hand, touching it a moment, but it shocked her and Anan withdrew her hand. She tried again, with the same result. Anna massaged her hand and stared at her reflection in the mirror._

 _As she did, her eyes closed and she stepped through the mirror's surface._

* * *

Anna sat up, gasping and blinking hard. Anu's hands came about her, helping her to sit up. She failed about, trying to reassert her hold on solid ground, and found Anu's arm. Meeting his eyes she took a deep breath.

"I need to apologize to you."

His brow furrowed, "About what?"

"About my mother." Anna blinked at the tears in her eyes. "You tried to stop her. Tried to set her right and she refused to listen. She rejected you and she paid the price for it."

His hand on her arm had Anna raising her head to his again. "I'm sorry."

"It's alright." He helped her to stand, leading her over to a bed so she could sit with her feet on the floor. "You're alright and that's all that matters now."

"But I'm not alright." Anna sniffed, the tears different now. "I don't think I'll ever be alright again."

"Why not?"

"Because I can't…" Anna buried her face in her hands. "I can't face myself. I can't face what happened. I can't face John. And I can't face that all of this is my fault. It's all my fault."

Anu, to his credit, said nothing. Instead he just held her close and she clung to him as she cried. Cried for all the things she wanted to be and now could never hope to accomplish.


	17. If I Could Turn Back Time

John raced up the stairs to the field hospital and opened the door but saw only Anu there, writing calmly in a ledger. It took all of John's control to not sprint the length of the ward to Anu's desk. When he landed there Anu barely flicked his eyes up and part of John's mind wondered if he forced himself not to look up.

"Where's Anna?"

"Welcome back Mr. Bates. I hope your trip went well." Anu turned a page, finishing his report before tucking the ledger away. "And she's out on calls."

"Out on calls?" John spluttered, his head shaking, "What's she doing on calls?"

"Her job, Mr. Bates." Anu finally turned up to face him, as if steeled enough to bear the brunt of John's gaze. "It's what she does."

"She was attacked and injured. Robert told me all about how you and Wasimbu and others had to go out looking for her because someone captured her." John paused, "Was it Carlisle and Bricker? Did they send mercenaries again?"

"It wasn't Carlisle and Bricker." Anu stood, pushing away from the desk. "It was a mad man they're still searching for."

"Mad man?" John frowned and then realization dawned. "You don't mean Green, do you?"

"That's exactly who I mean." Anu took the ledger and filed it away before grabbing his bag. "And Wasimbu has a number of his warriors combing the jungle for Green so it's only a matter of time before they find him."

"What happened?"

"He surprised her and she escaped." Anu shrugged, "I completed her examination myself and while she's a bit battered and bruised, she's alright."

"She should be resting."

"Surely you're aware that doctors make the worst patients."

"Maybe but it doesn't make a difference what kind of patient she is. She should be resting, not out there working."

"Unfortunately, she doesn't listen to me and doesn't take my hints as doctor's orders." Anu packed up his bag, "As it stands, she'll be back later and you can wait for her here if you'd like."

"I want to find my wife." John stepped in front of Anu as he tried to move away. "Where is she?"

"She's coming back from Wasimbu's village and will be here shortly." Anu tried to move but John blocked him again. "She won't like you interrupting your work so you'd best wait here. It's better for all sides."

John sighed, stepping to the side. "Fine. But I do hope you'll tell her I'm waiting if you happen to see her before she gets back."

"I'll tell her you're here." Anu left the ward and John took the chair near Anna's desk and got comfortable.

It only took a few hours but John was out of his seat in a moment when Anna came through the door. He threw himself toward her but she took the tiniest step back and he stopped. John blinked, brow furrowing before he finally managed a loose smile.

"Are you alright?"

"Of course." She edged past him toward her desk, keeping her focus on her bag. John noted it bore scuffs and scratches he had not seen on its surface before he left. "Why wouldn't I be alright?"

"Robert told me you were attacked on the road. Coming back from a village someone abducted you."

"And I got away so there's no harm done." Anna brushed her hand in the air like his comment was nothing more than a persistently annoying fly. "There's nothing to worry yourself about."

"Isn't there?" John reached a hand forward but Anna dodged it, blinking at it as if she wanted to avoid the reaction but could not stop herself. "You've been hurt Anna and maybe you'd need some time to rest."

"Doctors make the worst patients." She managed a little laugh but it echoed hollowly in his ears. "I couldn't sit by and heal."

"Don't you tell everyone you treat they should?"

"Of course but this isn't like an operation or anything serious. It's bumps and bruises. I'm fine."

"Anna," John's hand finally rested on her shoulder and she flinched. It rubbed her sleeve up and John saw an injection sight, purpling, and turned up to her. "What were you injected with?"

"Anu just gave me something to make sure I wasn't going to be sick from bad water or anything." Anna moved around the desk, as if keeping it between them, and forced her sleeve down. "It's nothing."

"Then why do I get the feeling you're not telling me the truth?"

"It is the truth." She insisted, grabbing her bag and moving away from him. "And I'm busy. I can't… I need to get on."

"Why not take the day?" John tried to round the desk but she shifted to keep it between them. "I just got back Anna. I want to spend time with you."

"Maybe later." Her mouth tweaked toward a smile but it quailed under her wince and she shrugged a shoulder. "I'll… I'll see you later. For dinner, at the Crawley's, because they want to welcome you back."

Anna disappeared from the building and John's brow furrowed before he finally slumped into a chair again. He ran a hand through his hair and forced himself upright. Walking to the stairs he saw Anna's jeep disappearing out of the compound.

He took his own car and drove into town. As he parked it outside the herbalist dispensary, John noticed Mrs. Hughes closing the door behind her. Calling out to her, John forced himself out of his jeep as she stopped. Her face contorted in confusion as John stumbled up the stairs and pointed inside.

"Could we talk inside?"

"Welcome back Mr. Bates." She stood tall, "I'm sure you're here on some important business but I've also got business I need to take care of and as much as I enjoy surprise visits-"

"It's about Anna."

Mrs. Hughes paused, "I can give you five minutes, Mr. Bates. And then I've got to go."

"Can we-?" John pointed toward the shop but Mrs. Hughes did not move. "What happened to Anna?"

"She was attacked, Mr. Bates, as I'm sure Mr. Crawley told you. Some madman, from what I was told, nabbed her from the road and tried to hold her hostage. Ransom, maybe, but she got away and he's on the run in the jungle." Mrs. Hughes snorted, "I hope some large snake squeezes the life from him."

"If she was only attacked and held captive for a stretch, then why did Anu inject her?"

Mrs. Hughes frowned, "Inject her?"

"There was a bruising puncture mark on her arm. I saw it and she tried to cover it up." John opened his hands to her, "What would he need to inject into her?"

Mrs. Hughes's frown persisted and then her eyes widened. Her mouth made an 'O' shape before trying to roll back her reaction but it was too late. "I don't-"

"Please don't do me the disservice of lying to me."

"I… I honestly don't know. Anu came to me the other day for some herbs and… other things but that was under a condition of secrecy. I won't say anything else about it since I don't know enough and I won't be giving you ideas." Mrs. Hughes went to leave but John held her arm.

"You've already given me the worst of ideas."

"Then, if you want to know more, you'll have to ask Mr. Singh or Anna herself. I only knew a few things and these aren't the kinds of things one should have in small doses for mistaken speculation."

"And if they're not talking?"

"That's none of my business." Mrs. Hughes nodded her head at him. "Have a good day, Mr. Bates, and I hope you find the answers you're looking for."'

John watched Mrs. Hughes leave her porch, walking away up the street, and he let out a breath. His steps were far slower in their walk toward the jeep and his drive just as meandering in its approach to the compound. Everything about the situation rubbed him the wrong way and sent all the hairs on his body standing on end like an electrical current zipped back and forth over his skin.

Even dinner that night felt odd. Like he watched it from a distance. Each time he reached for Anna's hand she shied away from him, refusing to meet his eyes. She spoke to everyone but him and whenever John tried to speak to her she quickly turned to someone else.

They walked back toward their rooms, John reaching for Anna's hand but she slipped it from his grip. The ascension of the stairs left them to shuffle awkwardly at the top as John hurried to open the door. Anna went into the room and shifted her weight in the corner as John closed the door. He pointed to the bed.

"Are you tired?"

"I'm a little tired but I'm fine."

Her voice sounded unnaturally high and she hurried to vanish to the bureau. John followed her with his eyes but when she looked over her shoulder at him he ducked his head to look away. He walked to the corner of the room and removed his own clothes, turning back toward the bed wearing just his pants. Anna shrieked slightly at the sight of him and John paused.

"I'm fine." She blinked, shaking herself but John noted the way she quivered under his stare. "It's fine. You just startled me."

"Startled you?"

"I'm… sorry." Anna hid her face from him and hurried to the bed, curling up on the side of it and keeping her focus toward the wall.

John grabbed for a pair of sleep trousers and hurried into them as he went to join her on the bed. The closer he got, the more he noticed the length of Anna's nightdress and how she clutched her knees close to her chest. His weight dipped the bed and she shuffled to the edge of her side, keeping as far from him as she could.

He risked one last hand to her shoulder but she twisted away from his touch. John, with tears in his eyes, lay back. His hands twitched, wanting to hold her close or even touch the smallest bit of her skin but he kept to himself. There, in the dark, he closed his eyes and realized the physical distance between them had not been as far as the distance between them now.

And the distance persisted. Nothing John did or said could crack the ice that thickened between them. Any evening activity between the two of them always put the table between them and weighed heavily with silence only broken with small bits of useless conversation. Public outings forced Anna into a mask of geniality and smiles but they never reached her eyes and a moment later she would be as far away from John as she could manage.

For the rare nights she slept in the same bed, Anna never wore anything different from the long nightdress that left her sweating in the heat. Whenever John suggested she wear something else she refused, holding at her arm where he had glimpsed the injection site. He noticed the way her other hand would massage that spot every few days, working her arm as if to move the muscles. Whenever he offered to help, holding out his hands to her, Anna would shake her head and back as far away from him as she possibly could.

All other nights had her back in the ward. She sequestered herself in her room, at her desk, or on constant calls that had her out of the compound so they could not just run into one another. John tracked her from a distance, completely confused as to what he should do.

"John!" He looked up from the papers he had not even taken in, though they were in his grip for an hour under the guise of studying them, Robert coming into the office with a bang of the door. "How are you?"

"I'm… fine." John dropped the papers, waving his hand toward the chair in front of his desk. The desk where he once had Anna spread over it. But that memory stung instead of settled his lurching stomach.

"You've been back for almost two months and you look like you've been sick this whole time." Robert narrowed his eyes at him, "Did you eat something you shouldn't have?"

"Not that I know of." John attempted a smile but all of his, especially lately, were as false as those Anna wore like a mask. "How can I help you?"

"You can tell me how the machine's doing."

John frowned, "I thought Matthew was going-"

"He went back to Mr. Swire when the man took ill. Been at his bedside ever since and I've the feeling," Robert shuddered, "He's on his deathbed. Matthew's there to make sure he doesn't die alone."

"Mr. Swire mentioned a daughter when he let us stay with him and taught us how to use the machine."

"She's in London and couldn't get her in time. She's on her way but…" Robert shrugged, "It is what it is."

"Well, if Matthew's left it to me, all you need to know is that it's working well. We've got cleaner air down there, we're better able to shift through the dirt and rock, and we've decreased the spillage for the slag piles by almost seventy-five percent so it's working as advertised."

"And… what about you?"

John turned up to meet Robert's face, the man's jaw twitching. "What about me?"

"Other than the fact that you're peakier than I've ever seen you, and I saw you in the trenches, I've got to wonder if you're doing alright."

"What makes you think I'm not?"

"Don't try and pull whatever wool you think you've got over my eyes." Robert wagged a finger at John, "I know you and Anna are going through something difficult and I don't want to know what it is because I don't care about that. I want to know if you're doing alright together."

"If we're not than I've done something wrong."

Robert's brow furrowed so deeply John was sure he could make a trench there for himself. "What could you've done wrong?"

"I don't know but I know she's without fault so it must be something I did."

"Still sounds a bit extreme."

"It is what it is." John interlaced his fingers, setting his hands on his desk. "Is there anything else?"

"I don't think so." Robert stood, "If you need anything then don't hesitate to let me know. I'm willing to help in whatever way I can."

John tried to focus for the rest of the day but eventually gave up. He returned toward his rooms, finding himself parking before realizing he had even gotten into his car, and heard a noise from the rooms. Hurrying up the stairs he opened the door to see Anna emerging from the washroom, wiping a hand across her mouth. Her eyes met his and widened. As he reached for her, Anna ducked under his arm and left the room.

It was as if something had tweaked in John. He stormed out of the rooms, taking the stairs down from his rooms and walking across to the field hospital to take those stairs almost as quickly. Anna was not there when he entered but Anu was. Anu stood, turning to speak but John held up a hand to stop him speaking.

"I've enough of whatever lies you're telling me."

"I'm not lying about anything."

"Then you're lying by not saying anything at all." John snapped his fingers and pointed to Anu's chair. "Sit down."

Anu sat, a tremor in his hands as he sat and John took the chair on the other side of the man's desk. "How can I help you?"

"You can tell me the truth, right now. If you won't then I'll write up a resignation on a page from your ledger and deliver it to Robert so I can be gone before Anna gets back from wherever she is right now."

Anu's face paled, as much as his darker skin could manage. "That's not necessary, Mr. Bates, and an all-around terrible idea."

"But it's all I've got left because the sight of me, my very presence, is torture for my wife and that's torture for me. The woman I love can't stand to have me touch her and since I know she's without fault that means it's because of something I've done. Tell me what it was."

Anu bit at the inside of his cheek, "It wasn't you, Mr. Bates."

"Then what is going on?"

"It's… complicated."

"Then find a simple explanation for me." John waited and when Anu would not speak he pushed back from his chair. "It's been a pleasure, Mr. Singh, and I wish you luck here."

John was almost to the door when Anu called out to him. "Mr. Bates, please come back." He turned to see Anu standing at his desk. "Come back and I'll explain this to you."

Going as if to take the seat, Anu shook his head and opened the door behind his desk. "In here."

John followed Anu into his room and stood awkwardly in the middle of it as Anu shut the door. The other man beckoned him to a side table and they sat, cross-legged, on the floor next to a shrine with a god John did not recognize. Anu's intake of breath drew John's attention and he focused on Anu's face.

"When Green took Anna from the road it wasn't so he could manipulate her with violence, though that was part of it." Anu coughed, as if overcoming something just to get the words out. "When Anna escaped she did not get far enough away before he attacked her again."

John waited but Anu dropped his gaze, unwilling to look him in the eye any longer. "He… he raped your wife in his madness and his insane lust."

If someone shot John in the chest it could not blow to his heart the way Anu's words did. There was anger there, somewhere on the edge of his emotions, but it could not get past the rush of failure. The full weight of a despair, that buried him deeper than those memories Anna helped him overcome so many months ago, drove him to silence where he wanted to speak. He only nodded and Anu continued his story.

"I found her, when she got away, and she swore me to silence. I treated her injuries and then performed a full examination. An examination that proved there was more damage done than what one could see on the surface."

"Something that might also explain the madness of Mr. Green?"

Anu nodded, "He was syphilitic and we treated it."

"You're still treating it." John practically accused and while Anu's jaw dropped a bit. "I've seen the injection site and how she rubs at it every few days."

"Her treatments are over so it's not a concern. They've been over for a month now."

"Then why's she sick?" Anu frowned and John shook his head. "Don't you have something for her?"

"Sick? She's…" Anu stopped himself, his eyes closing. "She thought it was just a temporary sickness."

"Thought what was temporary?"

Anu met John's eyes again, "Anna's pregnant, Mr. Bates."

"What?" The see-saw of emotions could not hope to fully encompass the confusion and surprise that swallowed John.

"Despite the potential problems with arsenic treatments and the strength of the treatments she insisted on taking to rid herself of the syphilis, the baby survived."

"My baby?"

Whatever hopes John could have had were immediately dashed when Anu shook his head. "She had her monthlies before Green attacked her. It's not your child, Mr. Bates."

They sat in silence a moment before John spoke again. "Where is Anna right now?"

"She told me she was going to find some herbs. Something for…"

John waited but Anu did not finish his statement. "Something for what?"

"I think she's got plans to rid herself of the child, Mr. Bates."

Jumping to his feet, John could not still his beating heart or slow the rapidity of his breathing. "Where is she?"

"I don't know where she'd be."

"Where does she normally go?"

Anu pressed a palm to his forehead and shook himself. "I don't know and to find her would demand I use abilities I shouldn't. Things I'm not supposed to use while in this form."

"If you don't then she might do something she'll regret." John fell to his knees, grabbing John's hands. "Please."

Anu held his gaze a moment before taking John's hands and folding them in John's lap. "Stay very still and do not move."

John sat where Anu placed him, legs awkwardly underneath him so it only took a few moments to send one of them asleep. He kept still until Anu opened his eyes and John tried to bite back a gasp. The man's eyes were entirely white, almost cloudy, and a shimmer glittered off his hands. Those same hands that raised to leave John squinting against the glare.

Then they grabbed his head, holding him still, and John forced himself not to move when all of his instincts screamed for him to escape the hold of this man. But the pulsing heat from Anu's hands thumped into his brain before stilling. Anu's hands dropped and his eyes closed again. When his hands slapped his legs, Anu's eyes opened and they were the normal, deep brown.

He took a deep breath and blinked rapidly as if to clear his vision. "I know where she is but we need to hurry."

They ran together to Anu's jeep and the Sikh steered the car out of the compound with a spin of wheels and a shower of mud. Tumbling through the jungle, bouncing along the path, John held tightly to the jeep's door and sides to save himself from falling out. All he could think was how much time was against them. About what Anna might have already done.

Anu pulled his jeep to a halt and John jumped out with the other man on his heels. They pushed their way into the jungle, stumbling and almost tripping through the underbrush, to find a slight path. One trod by only one person in the past and they squeezed themselves into the smaller steps.

In the distance, between the enormous roots of a large tree, John saw the blonde hair he would recognize anywhere and he held up a hand to Anu. "I'd… I'd like to speak to her alone."

Anu nodded, falling back, and John went forward on his own. He wove over the roots and cleared his throat to announce his presence. Anna jumped, sending the few bags in front of her tumbling to the ground and spilling their contents while tipping over the bowl she had erected on a tripod over the beginnings of an unlit fire. She turned in all directions before speaking, her jaw quivering.

"How'd you find me?"

"I… Anu…" John waved his hand vaguely and Anna's jaw tightened.

"Then he was very wrong. He shouldn't have lead you here." Anna bent down to pick up her things. "It's not his business."

"I didn't give him a choice, Anna." John bent down, putting his hand over hers and not moving it when she tried to pull away. "I know what happened."

Anna quivered, holding herself up only a moment before sitting on the nearest large root. Her hands worked over themselves, pulling and clinging, and she could not tear her eyes away from the herbs on the ground. Finally she spoke, her voice small.

"What did he say?"

"He told me, everything." John took a step forward, going down on a knee to hold her hands so they stopped tearing at each other. "I know everything."

"Everything?" Her voice caught and she refused to meet his eyes until he risked a hand to her cheek. "Even… even…"

"I know about the arsenic treatments and… about the baby."

Anna broke down in tears, ripping her hands from his to cover her face. John remained close to her but did not touch her as she cried. She managed a few words but they were unintelligible between her sobs. Eventually she managed to speak clearly enough that John could discern her meaning.

"Why?"

"Because I love you, Anna. I wanted to know what happened." John bit at his lip, "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because I knew the suffering it would bring you." Anna dissolved into another torrent of tears it took her a moment to overcome.

"But Anna-" John could not find another response, at a loss for words that she found for herself.

"At least it's out in the open." She sniffed, wiping at her eyes and then choking a nervous laugh when she took the handkerchief John handed over to her. "I'm glad of that at least."

Anna dabbed at her eyes, sniffing again as tears continued to drip from her eyes. "I've no need to worry about being found out because I am found out. My shame has nowhere to hide."

Before she could say anything else John took her hands but quickly moved his hands to her face so she would look at him. "Why are you talking about shame? I don't see any shame in this."

"But," Anna's chin trembled, the tears streaking down over his fingers on her cheeks. "I'm spoiled for you."

His fingers brushed over her cheeks, wiping away tears until he could see her eyes. John's vision clouded and the tears over his cheeks continued until he could clear his throat enough to speak. "You're not spoiled. You could never be spoiled for me. You're…" He choked back again, trying to clear his throat again. "You're made holier, and higher to me because of the suffering you've been put through."

Anna shook under his care and John slid forward in the mud and leaves between them. John sniffed for himself, trying to speak past all the emotions roiling and writhing as they managed to find one another's eyes again. "You are my wife and I've never been prouder nor loved you more than I do at this moment."

"Truly?' Anna's hand covered John's and he tried to contain himself so as not to frighten off the first opportunity he had to enjoy Anna touching him in a long while.

"Truly." John assured her, stroking his fingers over her skin. "There's nothing that you could tell me that would spoil you for me or make you anything but the love of my life."

"Even…" Her fingers slipped from his and John schooled his expression to stop himself reacting to her shying away from her.

"Even with the baby." John risked a look behind him at the tipped herbs and the evidence of what he suspected was a ritual he did not ever want her to finish.

"Doesn't it matter to you?" Anna twitched in his hold but John remained firm. "That it's… his?"

"No," John placed his hand back on her cheek. "It doesn't matter."

"But it's his child. It's evidence that… that he…"

"No," John lowered his voice, "It's part of your and it won't ever be his. It'll be ours."

"What if people know?"

"Why should they know?" John urged her, "No one but Anu has any idea what is going on and no one knows that we didn't…"

Anna grabbed his hand with hers, squeezing tightly. "That it's not yours?"

"No one will ever know."

"But what if you change your mind? What if you wake up and don't want to raise the child of another man?"

"It's not the child of another man. It's your child and I'll have the pleasure of raising it with you." John paused, "If you want."

Anna blinked at him, "What?"

"It's your choice." John insisted, moving his fingers in hers to seek a more comfortable grip. "And I won't stop you but I don't want you making this decision because you're afraid of what I'll do. I want you to be happy and know that you're loved by me no matter what's happened."

They stayed as they were for a time until Anna stood. John moved out of the way and watched Anna bend down toward the herbs and utensils she arranged before he arrived. His heart seized but then he watched her snap her fingers to light a fire and kick the bags of herbs into the flames. They flicked and snapped, glowing blue before settling.

With a kick of dirt over the fire it died almost immediately. John sighed and tried to stand up. His legs wobbled a moment and Anna hurried to him. She helped him stand and managed a smile at him. John held her hands and placed gentle kisses to her knuckles.

"I'm here for you Anna. I'll always be here for you."

She waited a moment and then slipped forward to wrap her arms around him. John held her close as she cried into his shirt. His hands moved in her hair and clutched her closer to his heart.


	18. I Want to Break Free

John knocked and waited until she answered before pushing through the door. He pushed through the door slowly and entered with one hand behind his back. Anna turned to him, brushing her hair, and smiled before setting down the brush to pull her hair up off her neck.

"What are you hiding?"

"Good news I think." John brought his hand out and Anna gasped at the sight of a collection of flowers and herbs. "Mrs. Hughes had these brought earlier and thought I could do her the favor of bringing these to you. Said they'd cheer you up."

"I'm sure Anu had to let it slip I was sick since he's been requesting a lot of her herbs for that."

"Has she wished you her congratulations because she was hinting at it to me but I wouldn't tell her anything."

"Thank you for keeping it a secret." Anna finished putting up her hair and got off the stool. "Though, I think everyone'll know shortly when they start to notice I'm wearing your shirts instead of mine."

"It's yours to tell since you've got to bear the weight of her in there." John put the herbs to the side and helped Anna to the bed, kneeling down before her to stroke over her stomach before helping her remove her shoes. "Whenever you want to tell anyone about her then I know I can tell everyone how excited I am about it."

Anna paused, her hand on John's as it moved to cover her stomach. "How are you so sure it'll be a 'she'?"

"I think it's because I want it to be a 'she'." John kissed Anna's hand. "Because then we'll have a child who looks just like you. With her gorgeous blonde hair and her blue eyes and her beautiful smile."

He heard the intake of breath from Anna and turned up to her face, "What?"

"Is it because you don't want the baby to… To look like…"

"Anna," John placed a gentle kiss on her stomach. "I don't care what this baby looks like. It survived when it shouldn't have and now it'll be our miracle. Boy or girl, blonde or brunette, blue eyes or brown, or whatever other appearance this child might have it's ours and that's all that matters."

She smiled at him, nodding, and John helped her finish getting ready for bed. John hurried with his own preparations and joined her. Like so many nights before he remained where he was, waiting if she wanted to move toward him, and steadily breathed in the interim. And, like a few of the nights lately, Anna shifted toward him. Her hand wrapped over his to interlace their fingers and she scooted over the space to put her head on his shoulder.

"John?" Her voice, soft as it always was in the darkness, "Will you kiss me?"

"Anna?" John rotated his head to see what he could of her in the dark. "Are you sure?"

She could only nod and John used his shoulder to pivot to face her fully. His hand, the one not holding hers, rose to her cheek and John eased forward to place his lips gently on hers. Neither of them moved and, after a moment, John pulled away. He focused on her eyes and her reactions, waiting for a hint of the fear she had before.

But Anna smiled and leaned herself forward enough to kiss John again. He did not move, waiting for her signal to continue. Her tongue brushed over his lower lip and he opened his mouth enough for her to move inside. John still did not press or rush or force but waited for Anna to decide what she wanted. Instead he followed her lead and only pulled back when she did.

They looked into one another's eyes and then Anna settled back to lay her head on his shoulder. In a few moments she breathed deeply, her fingers still holding onto his. John tipped just enough to place his lips on her forehead in a final kiss before he shifted to put himself on his back. The sounds of the night rested over them and he finally succumbed to sleep himself.

Each day and night was almost a reset of sorts. John worked almost on tiptoe. Their conversations eventually found the rhythm they had before. The kind of conversations they had before they realized what they might have meant for one another. The conversations that slowly became the private, personal, and delicate bearings of their souls.

Some nights they laughed and spoke and held one another close in the dark. Other nights John clutched Anna's sobbing and crying body to him as her fingers dug into his clothing as if he might anchor her. And the times in between they lay in the quiet, chatting back and forth long enough to share a few thoughts before falling into the silence they needed to evolve and grow together.

A few of the moments for Anna's greatest joys were those where their friends joyed for them. No one spoke of Anna's injuries of the attack now they could talk about her growing stomach. They cooed and chattered together over dinners and activities to discus names and genders. Nights after these Anna would speak with John about the same things, crying with joy about the future they planned for their child.

But John held fast to her when she sobbed for the same reasons. Occasionally he would find her thinking of her mother, looking around the rooms that were his and scrunch her face. John used that as explanation enough to bring himself to different rooms. To take her to the hut where they shared their wedding night. Anna could not bear that place any longer, any place any longer, and John worked for weeks with Matthew, Mr. Carson, and Anu to rebuild a shack near the river that would be high enough not to wash away in a flood but low enough so she would not suffer in a daily ascent of the stairs.

They moved there and it was better for Anna. She did not cry as often there or gaze into space with pained expressions passing over her face. John furnished it with the help of Wasimbu and Anu to make the home a place that honored Anna in every way. A place where she could feel safe. A place where John came home on some days and saw her, in the rocking chair he ordered from home, looking out at the river and running a hand over her stomach as she rocked in silence or humming songs he did not know.

When her stomach made her hot and uncomfortable, John gathered rainwater and helped her into a bath of cooler water. When the bed was too small for both of them and the baby, John brought the rocking chair close and held Anna's hand during the night. And when their new bed arrived, John manipulated himself to whatever contortion she required.

It was then, when Anna had spent half a year growing their child inside her, that she moved more. John waited for her encouragement and she gave it with all the energy she could. When he shifted toward her he bumped against the protrusion of their child. He laughed and soothed her fearful face.

"It's fine." He kissed at her lips until she calmed. His hands slipped and slid over her skin to gently glide the material of her nightdress away from her. Each movement was slow and measured so John could gauge Anna's reactions before he took the next step. And when John finally had them skin-to-skin again he waited.

Anna nodded to John's unspoken question. Their hands trembled and slipped as the sought those places on one another they had forgotten or not touched in so long. Their rhythm stuttered and stopped, worked back up to find those places that they remembered, and then settled to keep the electric thrill between them going.

John laid a line of kisses over Anna's face, making sure there was no patch of her delicate and gorgeous skin untouched. His tongue darted out, edging Anna with gentle leads and taunts so she could find pleasure again. His fingers stroked and caressed but backed away when Anna gasped until she writhed toward him seeking more.

As they found their steady rhythm, John set Anna on her back. He made sure she could see him, watched her meeting his eyes with each escalation in her pleasure until he finally lowered his lips to her collarbone. To her shoulders, to her hands, to her breasts until Anna cried out. She brought a hand to his head, using a tight grip in his hair to guide his motions as his teeth and tongue sought to bring her closer to the edge.

He suckled and sipped, lapped and nipped, and finally broke to move to her other breast. With Anna's hands guiding his motions, John had no mistakes in his work. There was no room to doubt what she wanted and that the one thing she wanted more than anything was John to continue. And John wanted nothing more than to answer her every whim.

Still moving slowly, John worked himself lower and lower. Anna's legs spread to allow him the room he needed. His hands and fingers caressed over her stomach and he was not stingy with the kisses he left there. He felt movement under his fingers and paused. He pressed back, gently, and it was as if the life inside of Anna wanted to take a part in it.

John lifted himself to see Anna's face and saw the tears there. He put a hand to her face, wiping away a few tears, and then returned to his attentions of her. The attentions that took he beyond her vision but made sure she knew he was there for her. With his fingers and his tongue he helped Anna fall over the edge as she had not since before he left on that trip.

Waiting on her to be ready, John helped Anna turn on her side, and held her as closely as he could with the new life between them. He met her eyes, leaning to kiss her again, and whispered when they finally separated. "Are you ready?"

"Please John. I can't wait any longer."

Working forward slowly, John slipped into Anna. He buried his head on her shoulder, clutching her close as her nails raked down his back. They shifted and rotated, trying to find a position that allowed them to move together and seek the edges of pleasure they needed. John thrust as deeply inside her as he could, their adjusted position to hold for the child between them, had John moving against her nerves. He slipped fingers between them, seeking to help her over the edge again as his own end proved too great to avoid.

A hand at Anna's back brought her as close as John could possibly manage before she went over again. Her voice, crying out his name, brought John with her. He could do nothing but follow her into that tumult of pleasure and he released as he had not in so long.

They clung to one another, quivering and vibrating as they found their breath. John lifted his head, staring into Anna's face, and went to move. But she held fast, her voice almost frantic. "Don't. Please don't move yet."

And so he did not. He waited until her leg over his thigh loosened. Waited until her fingers removed themselves from his back like pulling out claws. Waited until she settled just a smidge back so John could slip out of her. Waited until their eyes met so she could finally speak.

"I love you."

"I love you, Anna."

Their breathing matched, their gazes did not move, and John could do nothing but adore his wife. His fingers slipped strands of hair from her face and could not stop himself touching her. Even when the child between them kicked against Anna's stomach and thumped against John, he held her close to him.

Eventually they slid themselves into more comfortable positions but their hands stayed entwined.

* * *

John paced outside the house, heard the sounds of Anna and Anu talking but could not make out what they were saying. He pivoted, making a familiar trail over the rocks and the roots under their home, and clasped his hands behind his back. With a deep breath John turned his head up toward the house.

"John?" He turned to see Robert approaching, "What are you doing out here?"

"Waiting for the exam to finish." John pointed up at the house. "Mr. Singh and Anna thought it was better that I stay back."

"Worried you'll act the nervous father and ask too many questions?"

"I think it's more they're worried that I might get nervous about another man looking at my wife in her slightly indecent."

"Oh," Robert shuddered. "You'd never believe what I endured each time a midwife or doctor had to be present and I left the room."

"Was it bad?"

Robert held up three fingers, "Three times, John. Three times with visits and checkups and any number of medicines they needed to make sure the girls would all be alright. And then it doesn't matter because what can you do except wait as they marry people of their own and have children of their own and…" Robert stopped, putting a hand on John's shoulder. "I'm sure I'm just frightening you."

"At this point it is-" But John could not finish what he said as the door opened. He turned his head up and patted Robert's hand away as he hurried to meet Anu at the door. Anu only smiled at him, nodding his head toward the interior, and went to the base of the house to address Robert's confusion.

John opened the door and then shut it quickly as he rushed to help Anna sit up. He sat on the side of the bed, holding her hand, and knew it was not she who trembled but him. She grinned at him, rubbing over his hand with her spare, and soothed.

"Everything's fine."

"But you were having pains and-"

"They were just my muscles adjusting. It's normal and I've treated more than a few women for it myself. I just…" Anna shrugged, "It's harder when it's you because no one really knows what they'll bear until they're the ones bearing it."

"But…" John looked at their hands, "But I thought this was the time when we'd get to meet her."

"Or him." Anna insisted, taking her hand to his face to smooth over the skin of his cheek. "If it's a boy I want to name him after you."

"John Junior?" John grimaced, "I don't know about that."

"What did you want to name a girl?"

"I thought it might be nice to name her after my mother." John clacked his teeth a moment, "And perhaps after your mother, if you'd like."

"I think that'd be nice." Anna sighed, "Margaret Marie."

"Little Maggie?" John suggested and Anna smiled.

"I like the sound of that."

"Good." John leaned back, taking one of Anna's feet in his hands and massaging there. "Then that's what we'll name her."

"Now I want it to be a boy all the more." Anna settled back, sighing into the massage. "Because then you'll have to name him John Junior."

They laughed together and John finished the massage. As he leaned over her, John bent down to kiss her. "Would you like anything else?"

Anna bit at her lip, "I think I would."

"What can I get for you?"

"You." Anna trailed a hand over his shirt, slipping the buttons loose.

"Me?" John grinned at her, his arms holding him upright. "Are you sure?"

"I've found that in the past month or so," Her tongue licked over her lips and John had to swallow to keep himself focused. "That you make me insatiable."

"Do I now?"

"Yes," She pushed his shirt off his shoulders and hurried to get him as exposed as she possibly could. John helped her as much as he could but would not get in her way. He was a passive participant in her feverish attempt to get them both as naked as she wanted.

John moved behind her, holding a hand over Anna's abdomen, and kissed at her shoulders. Her arm came back to hold his head close to him and moved in response to his manipulations of her breasts. Her leg moved back and over his hip so his other hand could touch her. Slipping his fingers between her folds and driving her toward the edge so when she finished with a soft cry, John could slide into her waiting heat.

Anna turned her head toward him, keeping their faces close so their breaths mixed and mingle, and John kissed her when he could between desperate heaves to fill their lungs. They thrust toward one another, trying to drive one another higher and higher as John's fingers slipped and rubbed desperately at her clit to get Anna's voice to echo around their house. She kissed him as she came over again and John thrust for the final time.

"So," He whispered, not able to find enough strength to speak any more loudly. "Have I sated you Mrs. Bates?"

"For the moment," She patted his hand, slipped below her abdomen. "But only for the moment, Mr. Bates."

"I'll try and be ready for the next round then." He sighed against her, smiling against her back as he felt the movement rippling over his hand from her abdomen.


	19. Let Yourself Go

Anna put a hand to her lower back and winced. Anu, bending over a sleeping patient, turned to her. "Back pain?"

"It's been building for the last hour or so."

"You do know what that could mean right?"

"Could be that the baby's coming but John would never forgive me if I gave birth when he couldn't be here."

"Not sure babies understand that." Anu made a last note, going over to his desk. "If it's coming now then it's coming now."

"I'm not having this baby here." Anna scribbled off the end of a note on her desk before fetching the things she needed. "I'll go back to the house and, if you see John before I meet him there, please tell him where I went."

"Of course."

But before Anna could reach the door they heard noises. Exchanging confused looks with Anu, Anna half-waddled her way to the balcony that over looked the river that backed the compound. Bangs and cracks echoed from the water and Anna barely pulled Anu back as a shot buried itself in the wood over the door.

"What the-" Anu tried but Anna tugged him back into the ward, shutting the paneled doors as a series of continued shots thunked into the wood.

"It's Carlisle and Bricker's mercenaries." Anna hissed and stumbled to her knees, perpendicular to the bed with her forearms holding her up from the sheets as a shot of pain echoed through her body. "And I think the baby."

"Anna!" Both Anna and Anu looked up as John burst through the doors. "Are you alright?"

He sprinted toward her, almost sliding over the door and shielding her with his body as more shots rang into the side of the building. She grabbed his hand and held there to get herself to her feet. John followed, hands supporting her so she could stand, and Anu guided them back to the door.

"I don't think your house will be a safe place if they're coming from the river." Anu went to open the door but something bashed it open and the side of it caught him in the chest. He stumbled backward and then toppled to the floor when a shot hit him in the chest.

Anna screamed, reaching for Anu but her muscles tightened and she collapsed in John's arms. He was not prepared and fell backward, barely catching them before they landed hard on their asses. Bouncing slightly, John got them to the floor and held Anna close as three figures filled the doorway before them.

"This is what I call providential." Anna blinked past the pain to see Carlisle, Bricker, and a man they had on a leash. He bit and strained on it, going wild when his eyes lighted on Anna. She clung to John's shirt, digging her nails into his skin through the material at the sight of the foaming man she now recognized as Green.

When she did, Carlisle flicked his eyes to Green and then back to Anna. "I see you recognize our guide dog. He was very loyal and he'll get his reward at the end of this."

"There won't be anything left of you when this is over."

Carlisle barely acknowledged John's existence of his comment as he eyed the ward. His gaze fell on the fallen body of Anu and took a step forward to kick at him with his foot. Anna cried out as a stab of pain lanced through her, reaching out toward Anu but Carlise only snorted.

"Idiot man. He should've stayed in his own country."

"What do you want?" John helped Anna to her feet, though she could only stand halfway by leaning heavily on him.

"We want this business and we've been very patient in our attempts to get it." Bricker fully entered the room, keeping his distance from the frothing and twitching Green. "The time is ripe and now we're here."

"Because Robert's gone you think you can get this place for yourselves?" John helped Anna to a bed and she clutched at the metal bed stand, her knuckles going white as another contraction echoed through her. "He's due back at any moment."

"We know exactly where he is and when he's due back." Bricker snored, "Don't think us such fools that we don't know the movements of our enemies."

Anna blinked past the tears of pain, sucking breaths as deeply as she could manage to fight her body's urge to expel the baby. Her experience told her she was not yet ready and a furtive hand between the folds of her dress told her she had not dilated enough. Spreading her legs slightly, Anna leaned over and immediately felt John's hands at her lower back to press and knead the skin there.

"If she's going to be sick in here then I don't want to be around that." Bricker stepped to the other wall, avoiding Green, Anna, and Anu. "Why are we in this building in the first place?"

"Best view of the river and the next stage." Carlisle clicked his teeth at Bricker, "I should've left you back in town. You never were one for blood sports."

"Not like this." Bricker sniffed and shifted toward Anu's desk. "When will they be in place?"

"Based on the noises out there?" Carlisle flicked the leash he used on Green to adjust the other man as they walked back toward the door where they entered to investigate. "I'd say we'll have the natives subdued or killed in the next ten minutes. Then we move toward the mine."

"You'll have to take the house and Mary Crawley won't let you have it without a fight." John warned but Anna could now only rely on what she could hear since she bent double over her knees to try and stop the tightening of her muscles causing her more pain than she knew how to handle.

"Pampered Mary Crawley." Carlisle scoffed and Anna shivered at his next comment. "Soon to be spoiled Mary Crawley when I finish with her."

"You're sick."

"I'm the winner." Carlisle's voice wafted back toward them. "And to the victor the spoils, as they say. Or, the right to spoil. But I think you're already familiar with that idea. Especially after what Mr. Green did to your wife I'd say you could define 'spoiled' for all of us."

Before John could launch himself at Anna she let out an ear-splitting wail. It vibrated the boards under her feet and cracked the walls. The pain in her body drove her to stand and her grip on the metal of the bed radiated a heat that sent darts of fire toward Carlisle, Bricker, and Green. They took shelter in the rooms and Anna sagged into John's arms. He tried to hold her but she pushed herself standing to drag him toward the back wall.

"Anna, we can't go that way because of the-"

But she did not let him finish. Instead, stumbling forward, Anna flung her hand out and blasted the shut doors. They toppled over the railing and hit the men waiting below. Shards and splinters rained down after them so when Anna finally hit the rail, using it to stop herself toppling over with pain, she noted the impaled and howling below.

Tugging on John's hand, Anna motioned toward a lifted ladder hanging off the end of the balcony. He left her for only a moment but it was enough time to kick the ladder into place and for the snarling snap of something to almost bite at Anna before raking claws at her. Except they were not claws and it was not an animal.

Green, at the end of his tether that Carlisle barely held, scratched and raged to get at Anna. She turned on the railing, supporting her lower back on it as she could not stand upright, and put both of her hands in front of her. With a snapped incantation, wind whipped about her and hit Green so hard in the chest he collided with the back wall and dragged Carlisle over Anna's desk to topple on top of him.

"Anna!" John caught her as she lurched sideways, and took her to the ladder.

Helping her onto it, he managed descending by her side and then caught her when her strength failed near the ground. They tripped and crawled toward their house and John tried to help her up the stairs. Anna shook her head, shakily lowering herself to her hands and knees, and managed deep breaths as John knelt at her side.

"What do you need me to do?"

"Keep anyone close to me away." Anna panted and glimpsed John darting to the men she left dead or disabled outside the field hospital to grab their guns.

He rejoined her quickly, chest now bearing double bandoliers of shells he loaded into a shotgun as he balanced a rifle on his knees. Anna flexed her fingers against the rock in time with her next spasm of pain and used it to start another incantation. It burned and sparked on her tongue but soon the clouds gathered overhead. They darkened the sky and John glanced up at them before continuing with his preparations.

Men gathered in the distance, pausing in their own battles, to look up at the clouding sky and a few of them cried out. Even from a distance Anna recognized them as the survivors of her last encounter with these mercenaries outside the compound. Her voice rasped and hissed until the sky blackened and the first strike of lightning hit one of the men. The smell of burning had a few shouting out their curses or their prayers and Anna continued.

Rain pelted down, no soothing drops to begin their initiation but fat, drowning water pustules that burst and soaked in seconds. It destroyed visibility and everything beyond ten feet was shadow and shifting shape. John raised his borrowed rifle all the same, balancing it with his left elbow on his raised right leg, and aimed into the darkness.

"Anyone coming at us I'll assume is not friendly." He muttered but Anna did not waste time to respond.

"There!" A voice shouted and shapes came at them.

Sharp cracks burst next to Anna's ear as John fired at the shapes as they materialized through the darkness. Each shot, measured and patient, removed the hazard as they came toward them. But soon the rain slackened and Anna could not focus past the pain or use it to her advantage. She tipped sideways and John grabbed for her.

His motion left him defenseless and something leapt on him. Anna cried out and the rain vanished almost completely, now coming down in intermittent spurts to the confusion of their attackers. But she only had eyes and attentions for the practically naked man biting and scratching and flailing at John as they rolled toward the river.

With a howling cry as painful as the contraction that echoed through her body, Anna called out to the jungle about her. The rain lessened with it, forced to an even drizzle by the measured nature of her shriek, and instead another sound filled the air. A sound that stopped even Green's mad biting at John.

Growls, shrieks, chattering, and even the low rumbles, now filled the air. From the jungle about them came those beasts of the night and the shadow. Slinking past John and Green's frozen wrestle slipped hippos and the crocodiles from the river. Leopards and panthers dropped from the trees to walk their weight over roofs just to land their padding feet near frightened mercenaries. Some of them backed too close to trees or did not pay enough mind to the ground and the slithering hisses of the snakes wrapping and wending their way pup bodies to constrict and bite started new screaming.

All about Anna, the pain body forcing her to appreciate it through tear-blurred vision, the animals of the jungle drove the mercenaries back. Even when their rifles and shotguns and pistols unloaded their cartridges into the oncoming hoard, more took their place. Hippos grabbed legs and bodies to snap and break with sickening crunches. Crocodiles chose those they then dragged screaming into the water to bubble and writhe for mere moments. And the others took what they wanted before vanishing back into the forest.

A fog persisted over the compound, the heat of the earth meeting the drizzle of the rain, and it obscured farther vision. It did not, however, obscure the vision of Green raising a hand clawed around a rock he raised over his head to bring down on John. Anna hissed at him, snatching with her hand to drag at the collar Green has wrapped over his neck and drag the man backward. He kicked and clawed, trying to free himself but Anna held him fast in her own pain.

His howls for escape stopped as another resounding echo hit Anna's ears. She turned to John but his hands were not on the borrowed weapons. Instead she looked up and saw Anu, standing as proudly as ever, on the balcony of the field hospital and lowering a rifle of his own. He cocked it, pulling the spent bullet loose, and aimed again at someone just behind Anna and John.

Then he stumbled and Carlisle brought up a piece of debris as if to bring it down on Anu's head a second time. Anna swung her hand around and dragged Carlisle from the balcony, Bricker squealing as he came too. They tumbled to the ground before Anna, slipping and sliding over the rocks and mud to stop just paces from where Green wheezed to breathe.

Using all the energy she had left, Anna stood to face the three of them.

"What will you do now?" Carlisle taunted, the hint of unmistakable fear in his eyes. "Burn us alive?"

Anna did not answer. Without any words at all she flipped her wrist. The earlier deluge of rain started again and a roaring sound filled the ears of everyone gathered on those rocks. John threw out an arm, grabbing hold of Anna while the other wrapped around one of the large struts holding their house up, as a wall of water came from the river.

It soaked over the little beach, taking the unprepared trio with it. In a flash they were gone and, within moments, all trace of any altercation on those rocks vanished with them. The water settled in the river again, lapping at the banks as the rain stopped and the fog lifted.

As the sun shined and brought the weigh of the returning humidity, Anna fell to her hands and knees.

"Anu!" John shouted, falling to her side and trying to hold her up as Anna's legs wobbled wider apart to try and hold her up.

"Get her on her back and sit behind her." Anu barked his orders, helping turn Anna in John's grip as John worked behind her to act as her support.

She clutched at John's hand and he offered it without another word. Anu tore at the dress Anna wore and the ties she used just above her breasts came loose to leave her horribly exposed. But the next contractions drove any thought of public decency from her mind.

Vaguely, behind the haze of pain and shadowy figures, Anna's legs folded back and widened while someone else's fingers pushed at her. "You're almost there Anna. The head's crowning now."

Words she quoted to a hundred or more women a hundred or more times meant nothing to her now. She had no thoughts beyond the desire to expel whatever was in her as fast as she could. Her fingers ripped and clung as John while her cries of pain were no longer the energy and fuel for her incantations. All she could offer now were the sounds of nature in its most necessary act.

She pushed and struggled until her body could take no more and finally collapsed against John. In her delirium, desiring to do nothing but sink into the welcome oblivion of whatever she might find when she finally closed her eyes, Anna heard a noise. A cry that bore no resemblance to the shock and pain and anguish of all those about her mere minutes before for this was not of despair but of hope.

Forcing her eyes open, Anna watched as John extended his arms around her to take the struggling bundle from Anu's hands while the other man tried to restore some of Anna's dignity. One the fabric of her dress covered her again, Anna tied it in place with her flagging energy and dragged herself closer to John. When she did, John pulled the bawling baby closer to them and placed it close enough to Anna's chest that, within moments, it settled and worked its scrunched eyes open in the light to stare at them.

"It's a girl." Anu told them, sorting out the rest of the birth as Anna's shaking fingers swirled over the fair hair plastered to the otherwise bald head.

"She's beautiful." Anna breathed and John brought up his knees to support her arms so she could hold the baby. "She's perfect."

"And she's ours." John kissed Anna's cheek. "Well done Anna."

"Anu helped." Anna faced him but the other man waved her off.

"Just doing my job." He reached forward and took the girl from them. "Mr. Bates if you could carry your wife up to your house then I can bring this little one after you so you can settle with her in comfort. There are some others who might be needing my medical attention."

"Of course."

John dipped and picked up Anna, carrying her easily up the steps and into their home. He settled her on the bed and then stepped to the side so Anu could place the girl in Anna's arms again. Anna took her carefully, cuddling the baby close, and turned to Anu.

"Thank you."

"You're more than welcome."

"I thought you were dead." Anna's eyes teared and she struggled to see. "I thought… I thought I lost you."

"I don't leave on anyone's time but mine and it wasn't my time." Anu bent to kiss Anna's forehead and then the baby's. "I had to see her didn't I?"

"Maggie."

"Maggie?" Anu raised his eyebrows and then addressed the blinking baby. "Well, Maggie, it's a pleasure to meet you. I've been waiting a long time."

"Thank you." John shook Anu's hand. "For everything."

"It's been my genuine pleasure, Mr. Bates." Anu nodded at them, "I'll be by later to check up on you."

As the door closed John eased himself by Anna's side and she turned to him. "We've a daughter John."

"I told you it was a her."

Anna giggled, trying to nudge him with her elbow. "The next one'll be a boy."

"Determined to get your John Junior eh?"

"Yes I am."

"Well you know," John warned, kissing just below her ear. "We'll need a lot of practice for that."

"Not so fast," Anna turned to catch his lips with hers. "There's a waiting period."

"I can wait." He tucked some of her hair behind her ear. "I'd wait forever for you."

"And I you." Anna jumped a little as Maggie let out a cry. "But you won't have to wait forever. Mummy's here."

"And so is Papa." John whispered and Anna faced him.

"Forever."

"Forever," John agreed and they managed one more kiss before Anna arranged Maggie to try and feed her.


	20. Hold My Hand

John pulled the tiny strip of fabric from Anna's eyes and stepped back. She covered her mouth in surprise, the motion sending the fabric of her dress billowing just enough so that John could see the indentation of her abdomen. The sight of the swell set his heart alight.

"It's beautiful." Her hand stroked the lintel of the door, peering inside the space before looking back at him. "How'd you manage this without telling me?"

"I had help." John peeked over his shoulder and watched as Anna did the same. "Wasmibu wanted to help."

"I've a feeling you blackmailed him." Anna clicked her teeth at him, going into the hut. "The same way you managed to trick Mary into watching Maggie for us this afternoon."

"Mary agreed that you should see the place first and then we'll let Maggie tear her way through here to her heart's content now that she runs everywhere."

"She's my child alright." Anna walked between the rooms, noting the folding of the panels to allow more rooms or more open space. "This is beautiful."

"That's for you and the new baby." John pointed to an alcove. "The cot'll go there and the rocking chair will stare out towards the river like it did in our other home."

"And where will we sleep?" Anna pivoted faster than John could adjust, sending him almost to a stumble when she backed him toward a wall. "I don't want to spend all my time in a rocking chair."

"We've got this spot." John gestured and then motioned to both sides. "The baby'll sleep there and then Maggie has her own little space. The panels push back so they'll be within distance in seconds but we'll still have our… privacy."

"Privacy?" Anna made a sound in her throat as she took John's arm, dragging him into the space. "And how much _privacy_ do you think we need, John?"

"Enough…" He put a hand out to catch himself on the wall. "Especially with you being pregnant again I wanted to make sure-"

"Make sure I'm well taken care of I'm sure." Anna teased, opening to his shirt to run her fingers over him. "Because you know what being this far along does to me."

"I remember what it does to you."

"Good," Anna pulled the panels around them and the tugged the ties of her dress. "Then please help me because I've been wanting you all day and we're finally alone so…"

She did not have to say another word. John's lips were on hers in a moment and he grasped at her hips. A moment later the material of her dress fell over his hands and he had a time extracting them so he could slide up her sides to cup at her breasts. Anna moaned into his mouth and John broke the kiss to lower his head and give her breasts the attention they deserved.

They were larger now that her body adapted to pregnancy and John's ministrations to them left Anna practically panting. He grinned in the middle of one of his kisses and laid a trail before suckling at her nipple. Anna's fingers speared into his hair and clutched him to her as she pushed him back toward the wall, her hand catching them before they fully collided. John used the wall to his advantage, pushing his legs into a squat so he could more fully admire and lick over her breasts now dangling at the perfect height for his continued kisses and nips.

John struggled, on-handed, to manage his clothing and then huffed. Turning Anna in place, he shucked his trousers and pants to his knees as he took his position behind her. It slowed their pace and he recognized the catch in her breathing.

"It's me Anna," He soothed with kisses over her neck and shoulders, gliding the fingers of one hand down her arm to interlace with her own. "I'm right here."

He guided their joined hands to where her abdomen began its peek of protrusion and then skated lower. She spread her legs and John moved between them as his other hand returned to his attentions at her breasts. Anna sighed and moaned, turning her head toward him so John could bring their lips together again.

Every action was carefully crafted to bring Anna to the edge. His fingers moving with hers, at her guidance, and then working into her as he tweaked and teased the delicately sensitive skin of her breasts before teething and kissing at her neck. John caressed her shoulders and back with his attentions until the cry of her climax had him moving just behind her.

"I'm here Anna." He whispered in her ear and then drove forward.

Their motions, experienced and practiced, maintained a slow pace. John thrust forward and groaned when Anna twisted her hips to take him deeper or moved to meet him for another angle. He peeked down and rested his forehead against her shoulder to try and restrain himself from a frenzied increase in pace. The way she cradled perfectly in the 'V' of his pelvis had John holding her more tightly to him.

Their still intertwined fingers tempted Anna back over the edge and she brought John with her. He finished, thrusting a few more times until his body had no energy left. They settled where they stood until John slipped from her.

Taking care to right their appearances, John pushed the paneling aside to lead them out of the house. He shut the door and stepped back to join Anna as she stared up at it. "Do you like it Mrs. Bates?"

She smiled at him, "I love it, Mr. Bates."

"Then let's see if Maggie loves it too."

They returned over the path to the compound. Walking around the workers slowly dismantling the different buildings, they entered the main house. There a little blonde girl pelted toward them, her hair flying behind her in a stream, and John bent to scoop her from the ground. He covered her face in kisses and she tried to squeal away from him but her arms wrapped his neck and held herself as close to him as she could manage.

"Any longer and I'd fear you might let us take her back to England." Mary entered the room, a hand on her lower back as the weight of her stomach threatened to overbalance her. "Not that I'd mind. George dotes on her and he'd be good if he knew he had to set an example for her all the way there."

"Unfortunately for you and Master George," John adjusted Maggie on his hip. "We'll be keeping Maggie with us."

"You do know the offer still stands." Mary looked between Anna and John. "With everything shutting down here there's more opportunities back in England."

"England's not for me." Anna shrugged, putting her hand on John's arm.

"And I'm not for England anymore." John held Maggie close as the girl rested her head on his shoulder. "This is our home."

"Well, should you change your mind," Mary pushed herself toward the interior of the house, "Just know that you're always welcome with us."

"Thank you Mary." Anna called after her before tugging on John's hand. "Come on. I need to help Anu."

"Which means," John stage whispered to Maggie, "That you and I are helping Anu."

Maggie just giggled.

But for all the drama of the comment, there was not much left to do. Anu pointed to the few boxes near the door as they entered. "Those belong to you, Anna."

"What are they?" John bent down with Anna, flicking through the contents.

"Notes and prescriptions. Just a record of herbs and some of the reactions. The company's requesting all the medical records of their employees so they have them on file but I packed those up yesterday and they're already crated for the boat."

"I thought they'd be using a plane."

"Too heavy." Anu came toward them, pulling at his fingers. "On that note, I think I need to tell you both something."

They stopped and John took Maggie back into his arms. "What?"

"It's time for me to go." Anu waved a hand at the field hospital. "This place has been my home for a very long time but it's time that I moved on."

"Couldn't you stay and work for the hospital, like me?" Anna tried but Anu shook his head, laughing.

"It's not the venue. It's just… my time." Anu nodded toward Anna's stomach. "In a moment of unique clarity I discovered that he's the reason I've been here. Everything's been preparing for him."

"So," Anna crossed her arms over her chest and John tried to suppress an eye roll as she stared at him, "It's a 'him' then?"

"Yes." Anu held his breath. "Little John Anu is the end of my duty here."

"Not John Junior?"

"The name's still up to you," Anu put a hand on Anna's shoulder. "I was just being presumptuous."

"I liked it." John defended and Anna swatted at him.

"Either way," Anu turned a circle to look over the ward. "It's been a pleasure to serve you both."

"And ours to know you." John shook Anu's hand and Maggie bent over to kiss hic cheek.

Anna flung her arms over Anu, holding him close for a long time before releasing him. She wiped at her eyes, "I'll miss you."

"And I you. But it's not forever and, who knows, perhaps the next time we meet we'll find ourselves in reversed positions."

"I doubt it." Anna sniffed as Anu stepped back a pace.

"You never know." He smiled and then, in a flash of light, he vanished.

They walked back to the hut in Wasimbu's village, Maggie taking her place in the corner and falling asleep almost immediately. John stayed by her side until Anna was ready for bed and then crawled the short distance to her side. He settled and she put her head on his shoulder, throwing an arm around him.

After a stretch he whispered to her. "Are you alright?"

"He's been my whole life. He helped deliver me. He was there when my father left. He's the one who told me my mother died. He helped train me. He was by my side for every step of the way." Anna's movement had John looking down to see her wiping at another set of tears. "He's the only family I had before you and Maggie."

"And little John Anu."

"We're not calling him that in public. It sounds ridiculous like that."

"We could just call him Anu."

Anna lifted herself to look in John's face. "We're naming this boy after you and Anu. We're just not calling him that in public. End of discussion."

"Alright," John opened his arms to her. "It is your turn since I named Maggie."

Anna settled again and then her fingers started their gentle stroke up the line of his chest. "What would you say if I told you I wanted you again, John?"

"That I'd be a fool to refuse you." John moved toward her, taking a familiar position over her. "Unless you want something else."

"No," Anna shook her head as John opened her dress and spread the material on either side of her. "We'll just have to stay quiet."

"Yes we will."

John set to testing her patience and her resolve. With Maggie in the corner, no matter how deep of a sleeper she was, it drove Anna mad when she had to bite at her lip to stop herself crying out. And so John worked his hands and mouth all the harder to drive her all the more insensible. When he settled between her legs to let his teeth and tongue bring her to the edge she had to scrunch her hand into her mouth to muffle her cry.

But she paid him back in kind when her hand wrapped over him. Or when she twisted and gyrated under him. Or when her heels dug into his ass and her nails dug into the skin there to hold him closer to her as he drove forward. Or when they came together and she bit down hard at his shoulder while raking furrows down his back.

He settled to her side, breathing hard, and tried to make them decent again so they would not surprise Maggie in the morning. Anna smiled to herself, nestling close to him again and John kissed her. She responded in kind and then lot out a breath.

"I think we need that new place with the panels."

John grinned, "I think so too."

* * *

John opened his eyes and started to sit up when he saw Anna kneeling by the bed. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," She put a hand on his chest, "Everything's fine."

"Do you need me to get Jack something?"

"No," Anna shook her head. "And before you ask, Maggie's out like a light."

"Then what's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong."

"Then I can go back to sleep?"

"Actually," Anna sat up, pulling John with her, and they left the house.

He followed her the short distance into the jungle and smiled at the clap of thunder. The rain started and he stopped when Anna paused in their motions. She pivoted to face him and they both removed their clothing in sync with one another.

"Not that I don't love being in the rain with you," John told her as she settled him down on the ground. "But what brought this on?"

"It's necessary."

John stopped Anna continuing, "Necessary for what?"

She met his eyes, "So I can give up my powers."

"Anna-" John tried to speak but Anna put a finger to his lips.

"It's my choice and I need to do this for our children."

"Why?"

'Because it would be their burden to carry after me and I need to make sure they don't have to make the choices I did."

"Anna," John sat up, the rain pushing their hair into their eyes. "Don't give these up. Don't take away what defines you."

"Do you want it to define our children?"

"Yes." John put a hand to Anna's face, "They deserve the chance to protect and defend their home with the skills and powers you can give them. They need to have this from you. It's their right."

"What if they don't want it?"

"Then they'll decide that but," John kissed Anna's hands, "Don't give it up because you're scared for them. They're your children and they're strong enough for it."

Anna grinned at him through the rain, kissing John as hard as she could manage before leaning them back down to the ground. "Then it's so we can express our gratitude and bind ourselves together again. With our children."

"I can do that."

Anna moved over John and for as much as she wanted him to remain passive, he could not. He threaded his fingers through her hair and responded to guide her mouth and hands on him when she moved between his legs. He sought out her breasts and neck when she finally mounted him. And they moved as one until they cried out together to those beings who watched the jungle.

Walking back to their house, clothing still dripping as the rain Anna brought ceased, John turned to her. "do you think they accepted it?"

"I think they did." She held him close. "I would've."

"You're bias."

"Even so." Anna swung them to a stop. "I wouldn't change one thing about what just happened or how we got here."

"Neither would I." John lowered his head to kiss her. "You're perfect and I love you. And now that we're bounded together, again, you're stuck with me."

"For good and proper?"

"For good and proper."


End file.
